Filipino Pride, Not Really

Not sure if its common thing for developing countries, but for the Philippines, or the local media in particular, always seems to claim pride even if its not justifiable. It appears to me that the local media (and becoming too common in a lot of us) is in so much desire to find Filipino sense of achievement. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if the source of honor is “claiming” that one is Filipino just because of her/his ancestry or just because they look like Filipinos, I think the media (which influence lots of us) frankly should stop doing this.

Jessica Sanchez is an American singer. Her mother identifies as a Filipino.

While is a reality that lots of Filipino have migrated and move their life and family overseas, the offspring of these Filipinos born overseas does not automatically make them Filipino. It might be even too presumptuous to label them "Filipino at heart” just because of their parentage. They could have already adopted the norms and citizenship of the country where their parents migrated. True that they have Filipino bloodline, but their hearts, language, culture and mentality is not anymore Filipino. Just a statement of fact. So we should not unnecessarily claim fame of someone who has not assert her patronage to the Philippines.

Rob Schneider, American actor. His maternal grandmother is of Filipino ancestry.

Although it nice to see these celebrities with Filipino blood making a name for themselves and succeeding in their chosen fields, its not fair for both the Philippines and for the person in particular to lump it into one group.

David Alaba is an Austrian footballer with Filipino and Nigerian descent.

We can still celebrate other nationalities success, but we don’t have to be so desperate to tag them as Filipinos, if the person-of-interest have not declare they belong to the group.

Cyrus Villanueva, born and raise in Wollongong, Australia. Identify himself as Filipino too based on previous X-factor Australia interviews. His father is a Filipino.

Let’s not confuse the dual citizens, the fact they hold a Philippine passport, we can assume they have full patronage to our motherland and want to continue their association with our country. It is to their advantage to hold dual citizenship in today’s geopolitical and economic situation.

Lea Salonga is a Filipino singer and actress.

What is annoying is that if they are not even officially citizens of our country, we label them as Filipinos as fast as we could. Let’s be mindful that aside from claiming unnecessary their own personal glories, we are robbing that person her true identity and loyalty. 

Allan Pineda Lindo aka Apl de Ap is a Filipino-American rapper and record producer. He identify himself also as a Filipino. Born and raise in Clark, Philippines until  the age of 14, his mother is a Filipina and is often seen in the Department of Tourism promotional videos

It’s a different issue if overseas Filipinos, born in the Philippines or 2^nd, 3^rd generations born outside the country, have claimed personally that they associate themselves as Filipinos, but if not, we should stop categorizing persons as Fil-Am (Filipino American), Fil-Jap (Filipino Japanese) or Fil-Aus (Fil-Australian) and what not, to be just to everyone.

Ronnie del Carmen is a Filipino animation film director. His alma mater is University of Santo Tomas (UST) - Manila, the oldest University in Asia.

If we want to celebrate their successes and joys, lets (media should do its background check as part of responsible journalism) clarify the issue of patronage and association first, if not, we should abruptly stop this non-sense claim for someone else sense of fulfillment. In reality, we have so much homegrown talents, there is no shortage of source of inspiration from our own countrymen.

Timothy Go,  a Filipino-Canadian news presenter at Channel News Asia.

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular%20services/conserv-dual.htm