Nobility as used here means the character, virtue and internal quality of a person. It could refer to adjectives like worthy, generous, upright, honorable, virtuous, and magnanimous; it could also mean the state or quality of being (a) morally or spiritually good or (b) exalted in character. It is not used here to refer to a hereditary class with special social or political status, often derived from a feudal period, nor to persons belonging to a privileged social or political class, nor to inert gases.
Emilio Jacinto in the Kartilya ng Katipunan wrote that a life that is not dedicated to a noble cause is like a tree without a shade or a poisonous weed. He clarified that: (a) a deed lacks nobility if it is motivated by self-interest and not by a sincere desire to help; (b) a person with a noble character values honor above self-interest, while a person with a base character values self-interest above honor; and (c) to a person of honor, his/her word is a pledge. Andres Bonifacio’s Decalogue specified the “Duties of the Sons of the People” including, among others, the instruction: “Engrave in your heart that the true measure of honor and happiness is to die for the freedom of your country”.
By his life and works, Jose Rizal exhibited this nobility and honor. He described his life-mission as working for more liberty, more justice and more sacred rights of man in the Philippines. Rizal’s noble cause was to give more light that the people may be able to discern their own way, and if it were necessary, to shed his blood [spill my blood and tint your dawn] and die for the country [to fall that she may rise]. In letters to Blumentritt, he said he would rather give up his life for his people than remain in Europe to enjoy life there, and that he had to return to the Philippines to give an example not to fear death even if this may be terrible.
His strategic approach was education. In his Message to the Women of Malolos, he recommended: “Let us be reasonable and open our eyes, especially you women, because you are the ones who open the minds of men. Consider that a good mother is different from the one created by the Friars. Raise your children close to the image of the true God --- the God who cannot be bribed, the God who is not avaricious, the God who is the father of all, who is not partial, the God who does not fatten on the blood of the poor, who does not rejoice at the plaints of the afflicted, and does not obfuscate the intelligent mind. Awaken and prepare the mind of the child for every good and desirable idea --- love for honor, sincere and firm character, clear mind, clean conduct, noble action, love for one’s fellow men, respect for God --- teach this to your children. And because life is full of sorrows and perils, fortify their character against any difficulty, strengthen their hearts against any danger. The country should not expect honor and prosperity so long as the education of the child is defective, so long as the women who raise the children are enslaved and ignorant. Nothing can be drunk in a muddy and bitter fountain. No sweet fruit can be picked from a sour seed.”
Yes, by Bonifacio’s true measure, Rizal died for the freedom of his country and inspired his countrymen to work together, transcend debilitating in-fighting and lay the firm foundations for independence, even as he understood that the struggle for liberty (who gives favors only to the brave), justice and sacred rights of man must be bravely continued by new generations of Filipinos.
Dr. Jose Rizal showed the Filipino can be noble. “If the Filipino wills, he can” so he said.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Bayanihan Spirit
Recently someone sent me a copy of an article entitled “Doing a Geragos” which talks about the Attorney of Scott Peterson in the trial for the murder of his wife, Laci; Attorney Mark Geragos promised so much and delivered really nothing for his client. ‘Doing a Geragos’, according to that article, means to promise a lot and produce nothing.
When we expatriate Filipinos talk about “pagkakaisa” – oneness or unity – ‘doing a Geragos’ seems to be a usual response: meaning, most of us tend to treat it as a dream that promises a lot but will never happen. This response seems to spring from the assumption that ‘Filipinos have never been united and so will never be’.
The bases of this assumption are the innumerable cases of disunity and in-fighting among our people as borne out by our history to include now the history of expatriate communities all over the world. That is true and undeniable.
But is that sufficient basis to conclude that ‘Filipinos have never been united’, and then proceed to assume that ‘Filipinos will never be united’?
Unity, per se, is not what we are about. There is no human society that has, one hundred percent, operated like the atoms of a magnet; even dictatorships and authoritarian systems---political or religious---need some ‘compliance police’ to effect conformity.
We are a democracy or are governed by majority rule, in the hope that because of that rule the greatest good of the greatest number can be achieved.
So the ‘unity’ we refer to, really is consensus of the majority on common goals and common actions to realize those goals. It means being able to work together for mutual ends among the majority.
With this clarification, have we Filipinos been able to work together?
Of course we have. The very independence declaration we are celebrating [1898], now in its one hundred and twelfth year, showcases that moment in our history [1896] when a great majority of our people were united in fighting against the Spanish oppressors, finally transcending the individual, familistic and tribal uprisings of more than three centuries which were suppressed with the use of other Filipino groups. Our people’s establishment of the first republic in Asia came about because our majority was no longer engaged in fighting amongst themselves but rather fought against a common enemy.
EDSA 1 [1986] was also a showcase, among our majority, of “people power” in overthrowing an oppressive regime.
Therefore it cannot be said that Filipinos have never been able to work together; it cannot be concluded that Filipinos cannot work together.
Our bayanihan spirit belies that. Picture a nipa hut being lifted and moved to another place on horizontal bamboo poles by a group of men. That is the spirit of bayanihan that is our people’s cherished legacy.
Yes, we have been able to work together and yes, we can work together, now and hereafter.
It is a matter of choice.
Unlike animals that live on instinct, we humans have free will or the power of choice.
Take a vulture and a hummingbird. They fly the same grassland area. The vulture finds what it is looking for: decaying carcass; the humming bird finds what it seeks: honeyed flower. They find what they look for. So do we.
The difference is that birds have no choice. Their instincts dictate what they seek. We have the power of choice, even if that might be made more difficult by the momentum of habit and the inertia of history. We can choose what to look for.
Our power of choice is undergirded, according to the Bible, by the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind, not by the spirit of fear.
Precisely, Dr. Jose Rizal advocated enlightenment and education for the liberation of the Filipino because the real battlefield is in the mind and the heart---in the realm of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and emotions. This internal battle continues all the time.
When Dr. Rizal called the youth ‘the fair hope of this land of mine’, he expected new generations to continue that internal battle and improve on the achievements of their forbears.
We are this new generation and our sons and daughters are the newer ones. Whether we like it or not, we are engaged: this internal battle continues inside each of us.
If we do nothing and do not exercise any choice in the matter of what we look for and expect, then we are bound to repeat the negative aspects of our history. Just as grass and brambles overtake untended fields, so will negativity dominate our minds and hearts if we do not keep on ‘transforming ourselves’ through constant ‘renewal’ of our minds.
Our choice is either to let our focus lazily continue on disunity, in-fighting and ego dominance or to consciously, intentionally and resolutely give our attention to our people’s ability to work together and uphold the common good.
With power, love and sound mind, let us choose to seek and expect the latter: for working together in the spirit of bayanihan is a heritage we can profitably pay attention to.
If we seek, then we find, so the Word of God assures us. That, surely, is not ‘doing a Geragos’.
When we expatriate Filipinos talk about “pagkakaisa” – oneness or unity – ‘doing a Geragos’ seems to be a usual response: meaning, most of us tend to treat it as a dream that promises a lot but will never happen. This response seems to spring from the assumption that ‘Filipinos have never been united and so will never be’.
The bases of this assumption are the innumerable cases of disunity and in-fighting among our people as borne out by our history to include now the history of expatriate communities all over the world. That is true and undeniable.
But is that sufficient basis to conclude that ‘Filipinos have never been united’, and then proceed to assume that ‘Filipinos will never be united’?
Unity, per se, is not what we are about. There is no human society that has, one hundred percent, operated like the atoms of a magnet; even dictatorships and authoritarian systems---political or religious---need some ‘compliance police’ to effect conformity.
We are a democracy or are governed by majority rule, in the hope that because of that rule the greatest good of the greatest number can be achieved.
So the ‘unity’ we refer to, really is consensus of the majority on common goals and common actions to realize those goals. It means being able to work together for mutual ends among the majority.
With this clarification, have we Filipinos been able to work together?
Of course we have. The very independence declaration we are celebrating [1898], now in its one hundred and twelfth year, showcases that moment in our history [1896] when a great majority of our people were united in fighting against the Spanish oppressors, finally transcending the individual, familistic and tribal uprisings of more than three centuries which were suppressed with the use of other Filipino groups. Our people’s establishment of the first republic in Asia came about because our majority was no longer engaged in fighting amongst themselves but rather fought against a common enemy.
EDSA 1 [1986] was also a showcase, among our majority, of “people power” in overthrowing an oppressive regime.
Therefore it cannot be said that Filipinos have never been able to work together; it cannot be concluded that Filipinos cannot work together.
Our bayanihan spirit belies that. Picture a nipa hut being lifted and moved to another place on horizontal bamboo poles by a group of men. That is the spirit of bayanihan that is our people’s cherished legacy.
Yes, we have been able to work together and yes, we can work together, now and hereafter.
It is a matter of choice.
Unlike animals that live on instinct, we humans have free will or the power of choice.
Take a vulture and a hummingbird. They fly the same grassland area. The vulture finds what it is looking for: decaying carcass; the humming bird finds what it seeks: honeyed flower. They find what they look for. So do we.
The difference is that birds have no choice. Their instincts dictate what they seek. We have the power of choice, even if that might be made more difficult by the momentum of habit and the inertia of history. We can choose what to look for.
Our power of choice is undergirded, according to the Bible, by the spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind, not by the spirit of fear.
Precisely, Dr. Jose Rizal advocated enlightenment and education for the liberation of the Filipino because the real battlefield is in the mind and the heart---in the realm of thoughts, ideas, suggestions and emotions. This internal battle continues all the time.
When Dr. Rizal called the youth ‘the fair hope of this land of mine’, he expected new generations to continue that internal battle and improve on the achievements of their forbears.
We are this new generation and our sons and daughters are the newer ones. Whether we like it or not, we are engaged: this internal battle continues inside each of us.
If we do nothing and do not exercise any choice in the matter of what we look for and expect, then we are bound to repeat the negative aspects of our history. Just as grass and brambles overtake untended fields, so will negativity dominate our minds and hearts if we do not keep on ‘transforming ourselves’ through constant ‘renewal’ of our minds.
Our choice is either to let our focus lazily continue on disunity, in-fighting and ego dominance or to consciously, intentionally and resolutely give our attention to our people’s ability to work together and uphold the common good.
With power, love and sound mind, let us choose to seek and expect the latter: for working together in the spirit of bayanihan is a heritage we can profitably pay attention to.
If we seek, then we find, so the Word of God assures us. That, surely, is not ‘doing a Geragos’.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Balik Tanaw Tungo sa Kaunlaran
PHOENIX ADDRESS
(Balik-Tanaw Tungo sa Kaunlaran)
PIDC Keynote Speech, June 5, 2010, by Edwin D. Bael
ASU West, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd., Glendale, AZ 85306-4900
One hundred and twelve years ago, Filipinos declared that thenceforth, the people and the government in their seven thousand one hundred and seven islands shall be independent and free from the control and shadow of any nation and shall be known as the Republic of the Philippines.
Today, like other expatriate Filipino communities the world over, we here in Phoenix have come together, once more, to remember that date in history. Happily, the name Phoenix recalls the legend of the bird that rises brand new from the ashes of many yesterdays. With our theme, we want to look back at yesterdays to help ensure that the future is better for new generations of Filipinos.
Our timing is auspicious because our people have just elected a new President based, among others, on Senator Noynoy Aquino’s moral platform, which reminds us of Dr. Jose Rizal’s vision for unleashing the moral and material development of the Filipino.
Kudos and congratulations go to the PIDC (Philippine Independence Day Committee) leaders and participating groups; your continued concerted efforts to maintain this whole day event in the ASU (Arizona State University) West Campus, for years now, has solidified mainstream recognition of the presence and significance of the Filipino community in Phoenix.
In holding these commemorative activities, however, we cannot remain content with usual things to do. We might want to consider that our remembering could have impacts both here and back home.
We can ask ourselves whether what we do here can help improve the capabilities and competencies of our people back home. For, in face of discontinuities and ultra change, there is no security, only opportunity. And opportunity can be seized only by those who are enterprising, resolved, able and agile. These human capacities constitute the kind of educational outcomes advocated by our heroes, like Rizal and Bonifacio, not just the training of efficient cogs for global employment, which describes the majority of our educational institutions’ graduates whose general aim is ‘to work abroad’. So, what can we do to help generate these enterprising ability and agility outcomes? The answers could be projects that our various groups can look into and undertake.
We might also want to consider that it is for us, expatriates, to effectively participate in the politics of the countries we have adopted, that we may have a place in decision-making circles to help benefit our Inang Bayan and Jewel of the Orient Seas. So, can we be more effective in political action? Yes, of course. Rizal said: “If the Filipino wills, he can.” Let us then just summon that needed community will.
Still, when we can, we cannot presume to tell those in the motherland what to do. We are far too removed from their daily realities. But, we might want to show first that we can: (a) hold each other in high esteem; (b) expect the best of each other; and (c) live our lives so as to merit such high esteem and best expectation. Then, perhaps, we can have credibility beyond remittances and may be there can be more receptivity when we suggest a path to moral and material advancement. This path can be threefold, namely: (1) being anchored on the One-Source-of-All; (2) individual excellence; and (3) team-spirit; these, plus constant awareness and intentional disregard of colonial distortions particularly the usual superiority games and predispositions to prove fellow Filipinos wrong and inferior. Being equally important sons and daughters of God, we cannot afford to be derailed by such distortions.
Mga Kababayan, Ladies and Gentlemen: At the end of this hectic day, as you lay your head on your pillow and right before you go to sleep, remember: the Filipino is not only worth dying and commemorating for; more importantly, the Filipino is worth living, cooperating and succeeding for.
Maraming salamat po.
(Balik-Tanaw Tungo sa Kaunlaran)
PIDC Keynote Speech, June 5, 2010, by Edwin D. Bael
ASU West, 4701 W. Thunderbird Rd., Glendale, AZ 85306-4900
One hundred and twelve years ago, Filipinos declared that thenceforth, the people and the government in their seven thousand one hundred and seven islands shall be independent and free from the control and shadow of any nation and shall be known as the Republic of the Philippines.
Today, like other expatriate Filipino communities the world over, we here in Phoenix have come together, once more, to remember that date in history. Happily, the name Phoenix recalls the legend of the bird that rises brand new from the ashes of many yesterdays. With our theme, we want to look back at yesterdays to help ensure that the future is better for new generations of Filipinos.
Our timing is auspicious because our people have just elected a new President based, among others, on Senator Noynoy Aquino’s moral platform, which reminds us of Dr. Jose Rizal’s vision for unleashing the moral and material development of the Filipino.
Kudos and congratulations go to the PIDC (Philippine Independence Day Committee) leaders and participating groups; your continued concerted efforts to maintain this whole day event in the ASU (Arizona State University) West Campus, for years now, has solidified mainstream recognition of the presence and significance of the Filipino community in Phoenix.
In holding these commemorative activities, however, we cannot remain content with usual things to do. We might want to consider that our remembering could have impacts both here and back home.
We can ask ourselves whether what we do here can help improve the capabilities and competencies of our people back home. For, in face of discontinuities and ultra change, there is no security, only opportunity. And opportunity can be seized only by those who are enterprising, resolved, able and agile. These human capacities constitute the kind of educational outcomes advocated by our heroes, like Rizal and Bonifacio, not just the training of efficient cogs for global employment, which describes the majority of our educational institutions’ graduates whose general aim is ‘to work abroad’. So, what can we do to help generate these enterprising ability and agility outcomes? The answers could be projects that our various groups can look into and undertake.
We might also want to consider that it is for us, expatriates, to effectively participate in the politics of the countries we have adopted, that we may have a place in decision-making circles to help benefit our Inang Bayan and Jewel of the Orient Seas. So, can we be more effective in political action? Yes, of course. Rizal said: “If the Filipino wills, he can.” Let us then just summon that needed community will.
Still, when we can, we cannot presume to tell those in the motherland what to do. We are far too removed from their daily realities. But, we might want to show first that we can: (a) hold each other in high esteem; (b) expect the best of each other; and (c) live our lives so as to merit such high esteem and best expectation. Then, perhaps, we can have credibility beyond remittances and may be there can be more receptivity when we suggest a path to moral and material advancement. This path can be threefold, namely: (1) being anchored on the One-Source-of-All; (2) individual excellence; and (3) team-spirit; these, plus constant awareness and intentional disregard of colonial distortions particularly the usual superiority games and predispositions to prove fellow Filipinos wrong and inferior. Being equally important sons and daughters of God, we cannot afford to be derailed by such distortions.
Mga Kababayan, Ladies and Gentlemen: At the end of this hectic day, as you lay your head on your pillow and right before you go to sleep, remember: the Filipino is not only worth dying and commemorating for; more importantly, the Filipino is worth living, cooperating and succeeding for.
Maraming salamat po.
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