A proper country
What people now call the “Philippines” can never become anything more than a neoliberal semi-colonial, semi-feudal country, mainly because of its choosing to remain chained to foreign masters. Somehow, the choice is only either China or the United States. Somehow, the only people who can govern are oligarchs of the same cloth, just with different aesthetics. We are being played by two powers who have done nothing but exploit the people of the Philippines for the gain of their people alone. And that name, Philippines? Why have we kept that remnant of our colonial past? Are we so proud of being enslaved by Madrid for 300 years that we just cannot have enough colonialism? These are some of the things that have to be discussed and their implications explained. People from both sides of the politico-economic spectrum cannot help the nation succeed. Both the oligarchic right and the pseudo-intellectual left are incapable of providing for the people of this archipelago, let alone defending the nation from the powers that be.
China or the US? The idiotic dilemma.
This is the question always being asked by both commentators and politicians. They ask which exploitative power the Philippines should side with. Why is this a question, though? Is it not right for us, for this nation, to choose a position outside the two powers? Some would say it is inevitable that we choose a side, but I would argue that if that was the case then why are we still sovereign? Indonesia, for example, strikes back against Chinese expansionism in the West Philippine Sea. Its alignment with the US is subtle as well, at least not as grand and open as the puppetry of the Philippines by the US.
One would hear Duterte, the bastard that has done nothing but make this country suffer, say the Philippines “can hardly afford” offending China, yet we certainly can afford to buy $35B-worth of military equipment from the US. Why are we buying military equipment and materials from the US if we are not going to use them in any meaningful way? It is obvious that such purchases are not for the defence of the country but lining the pockets of Duterte and his rabid, greedy dogs. This neo-colony is already humiliating, but Duterte was able to make the nation even more humiliating by showing how weak and useless the country is, and somehow he is a good President that should run as Vice President with his demagogue daughter Inday Sara as President? What kind of buffoonery is his supporters thinking? Bagsak naman na kaya isagad na natin?
Duterte is not “anti-oligarch” and “anti-trapo”. He is a trapo, a member of the corrupt ruling class. His interests align with the oligarchs he vehemently criticizes. We should ask ourselves, “Has Duterte really done anything against the oligarchy?” In fact, he does not even have the balls to end cotnractualization despite promising it during his campaign, but it is not like he has upheld any of his primary campaign promises. When Duterte shut down ABS-CBN, it is not because he is against the ruling elite; he did it because he wants to censor his primary critics and to make an example out of ABS-CBN for other broadcasting networks to see. When his supporters praise Duterte for “tearing down the Lopez oligarchs,” they are essentially saying, “People who do not validate our beliefs have been shut down! Thank God!” It is not fake news to be critical of politicians, it is common sense.
The name of the country
We hear a lot of people say that the name of the country is not a real concern or a secondary issue. I am against this stance. The implication of keeping a colonial label is massive to the consciousness of the nation. Who are we? “Filipinos.” People of Rei Felipe? Colonies have reverted back to their traditional names or have chosen names fitting a truly sovereign and independent country. To promote unity, the then Upper Volta, under the leadership of Thomas Sankara, chose the name Burkina Faso to foster a common identity between the country’s different tribes and cultures. In the Philippine archipelago, we instead chose a name that ingrains a colonial past, instead of a united and sovereign future. We are not the Philippines. We are Tagalos, Kapampangans, Ilokanos, Bikolanos, and so much more, and the best we can offer all these groups is “Philippines”? Is 300 years not enough?
Then we have people who want to rename the country to “Filipinas.” A mockery to the Philippine Revolution and the martyrs who died trying to secure our independence. As if “Pilipinas” is not bad enough, let us go back to our initial invaders and bring the name of the country closer to the language of the oppresors! I cannot stress enough how much national symbols, including the name of the nation, define the consciousness and structure of society. These names do not evoke a sense of sovereignty but serve as reminders of the oppressive, colonial suffering of the people of this archipelago. “Mahirap tayo kaso inalipin tayo” (We are poor because we were enslaved) is the common excuse, and this is true to an extent, but to use this as a mantra and a reason why we cannot advance is to chain the nation to the ground instead of giving it wings to fly. This mentality is partly the fault of our national symbols, which should be evoking pride and patriotism, not despondency and weakness.
What name should we use then? I do not know. The name “Maharlika” was proposed in the past, at one point during the time of Marcos and another after he was ousted from power. It was proposed during Duterte’s term as well but nothing came of it. The main reason it keeps on getting proposed, in my opinion, is because people associate the word with nobility when in reality the word was used in the past to refer to the warrior class, not the noble class, which is fine, but it does not really seem creative, let alone unifying. A common heritage must be used as the staging point for choosing a name for the country, maybe the Malay or Austronesian identity of the inhabitants of the archipelago.
Language, a real issue
The imposition of the “Filipino” languange is problematic. It dismisses the reality that Filipino is simply Tagalog with extra words and are the same for all intents and purposes. It also dismisses the fact that many other groups in the archipelago do not wish to have a certain group’s language imposed over them. What is necessary, therefore, is the creation or even adoption of a new language separate from the languages within the archipelago. The best choice for this is Malay or a derivation of it. This would also bring us closer to other countries of the Malay race as well, inclusion to which has been very much contingent on speaking a Malay language (Currently Bahasa Indonesia and Bahala Melayu). Changing the language is hard, however, and there would be widespread confusion throughout the archipelago; people would have to juggle between their local languages, English, Tagalog, and the proposed new language, though this confusion would only last a generation or two.
If it is impossible to choose a new language, the way we approach Filipino should be changed. Instead of focusing on balancing English and Filipino, the latter should be used more prominently in literature, business and political activities, research, and entertainment. By trying to balance the language with English, we are diluting the language, preventing any kind of development to happen, ultimately rendering it useless within the academe and professional spaces. It would also be proper to increase the usage of Baybayin or any of its derivative scripts for public and official use in order to strengthen the identity of the nation. This would counteract the influence of the English language and our imperialist masters in society, giving the people some sense of belonging to their nation instead of being forced to speak a foreign language just to get a decent job. Nationalism is the bulwark of any nation. Without a unifying force, the nation is useless and weak.
