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Who we are.. the Filipinos
where i am from
by ma. fatima v. lim
and i answer from the philippines.
7,000 and more islands scattered over the pacific
like blue green clusters of carabao turd.
48,000,000 people shouting at each other
over the barriers of the sierra madre and celebes sea,
through the din of rice sparrows and reconnaisance planes.
natives with chinese eyes and malayan skin
castillian airs and made-in-the-u.s.a. minds,
we cross ourselves the pit before the cockfight.
oh, we are slow, how slow we are.
we fall asleep in the shade of the palm tress.
our hoes rust in the fields.
the tuba rushes to our brains from our bellies.
the women changed our coconut fermented dreams:
maria clara has goat milk skin, laguna de bay eyes and teeth.
her breasts swell fuller than upo gourds.
oh! how slower we are still to waking.
juan tamad took 400 years
he finally got rid of the european devil.
with a stone-sharpened bolo,
but blinded by the stars and stripes
poor juan embraced six-foot santa claus.
we dream of pure white christmas
in our land of constant summer and lent.
beating our breasts, re-enacting
the bleeding passion of christ,
our bare feet turning and turning the barrening earth.
oh! but we are quick to change from one master to another.
ready to scrape and smile.
even speak in conqueror's tongue.
buenos dias! hi ya'll! konnichi wa!
we are the poor filipinos
richly blessed malarial squatters.
malacañang palace puppets and inflatable peso bills
how can god not be kind to us?
surely he sees our lifted faces,
wet with the manna
of monsoon rain.
by ma. fatima v. lim
and i answer from the philippines.
7,000 and more islands scattered over the pacific
like blue green clusters of carabao turd.
48,000,000 people shouting at each other
over the barriers of the sierra madre and celebes sea,
through the din of rice sparrows and reconnaisance planes.
natives with chinese eyes and malayan skin
castillian airs and made-in-the-u.s.a. minds,
we cross ourselves the pit before the cockfight.
oh, we are slow, how slow we are.
we fall asleep in the shade of the palm tress.
our hoes rust in the fields.
the tuba rushes to our brains from our bellies.
the women changed our coconut fermented dreams:
maria clara has goat milk skin, laguna de bay eyes and teeth.
her breasts swell fuller than upo gourds.
oh! how slower we are still to waking.
juan tamad took 400 years
he finally got rid of the european devil.
with a stone-sharpened bolo,
but blinded by the stars and stripes
poor juan embraced six-foot santa claus.
we dream of pure white christmas
in our land of constant summer and lent.
beating our breasts, re-enacting
the bleeding passion of christ,
our bare feet turning and turning the barrening earth.
oh! but we are quick to change from one master to another.
ready to scrape and smile.
even speak in conqueror's tongue.
buenos dias! hi ya'll! konnichi wa!
we are the poor filipinos
richly blessed malarial squatters.
malacañang palace puppets and inflatable peso bills
how can god not be kind to us?
surely he sees our lifted faces,
wet with the manna
of monsoon rain.
This is one of the poems that I will never forget, everytime I was asked by someone to introduce myself I would always recall a line or two of this poem. This time is is a bit different though, what made me recall this poem is the election fever in the country. It is very common to the Philippine politics that candidates would get to groom themselves to the eye of the public. 356 days before the election year and every politician whose eyes are on one of the seats in the government are already appearing on TV ads. These are the moments when Filipinos are seeing the future candidates of the National Elections, whether it be the Presidential or the Senatorial seat. The question is to whom are we going to cast our votes for?
Let us all look back to the years when our brave ancestors fight with their lives just to free this country from our colonizers. Think of Andres Bonifacio, Emilio Jacinto, Gabriela Silang, Apolinario Mabini, Dr. Jose Rizal and the the unsung heroes of the Katipunan and guerilla movements who fought hard for our freedom. They were part of the reason why every Filipino whether they're young or old, literate or not, rich or poor, man or woman; were given an equal right to pick the leaders who would soon be the voice of our people to the world.
Let us forget about the superficial things and let us get to know ourselves. Before we cast our votes let us all look into our hearts and find our our identity as a Filipino. Let us remember that the person that we put on the highest seat is the person that would best represent us. We should make it a point that we are not voting for someone who is famous, rich, popular or just because they multi-awarded actors and are great athletes. Instead let us vote for someone who will listen and feel our needs. Someone who does not look at the position as a source of income and of power but someone who sees it as a privilege to serve and to speak for our people. Someone who would make the world identify us as peace-loving, hard working and God fearing nation.
Let us be identified by our great Filipino Values through our leaders. Once and for all let us revive the People Power by voting for someone who is fit for the position. We don't want to make the same mistakes over and over again. We do not need to march down the EDSA to ask someone to step down their seat just because 2 or 3 years ago we made the wrong choice of voting for them. Let us start it right this time.
The next march that we should do down the EDSA Avenue should be the march of victory; lifting our hands up in the sky celebrating the election of a TRUE servant to the Filipino nation.
*** the poem is written in the 1980's
*** 48,000,000 - is the population of the poplulation of the Philippines in 1980, this 2010 the projected population is 93,938,917 and is projected to reach 102,822,358 in the year 2015. (source: http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/popprojtab.html)
*** for more information about the 2010 National and Local Elections visit: http://www.comelec.gov.ph/2010%20National_Local/calendar_%20of_activities.html
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