Fr. Emeterio E Barcelon
PATRIOTS are not only the heroes who give their lives for their country but also those who make small sacrifices for their country. In the concept of patriotism, love and sacrifice are essential elements whether the magnitude of the sacrifice demanded be heroic or of everyday category. But what is our object of that love and willingness to sacrifice? What is the definition of "my country" or "my native land"? Country cannot mean only a territory, although it includes that. It means people. It means primarily those with whom we live, family, clan, tribe, province mates, the rich and the poor. John Paul II wrote several essays from his experience and identity as Polish. He contrasts nation, native land or "patria"; territory, state, nationalism versus patriotism. And he goes on to consider patrimony that starts from the fatherhood of God and the development of national identity. He speaks of the Polish spirit that has kept the nation through aggressions of its more powerful neighbors carving out of parts of its territory. What then is the object of our patriotism? It has to be people. Do we have a Filipino spirit?
We love and are willing to make sacrifices for people, our family, our clan, our tribe, and our co-probinsianos, those with whom we have had something in common, those who share our culture. The jump to love of a country with diversity and pluralism especially of beliefs and economic and political status requires a process of identity. Have we identified with this nation called the Philippines? (Or are we even jumping to a post identity from a nation to world citizenship. To an extent it would be ideal if there were no nations but only citizens of one world. But that is not yet possible. We are still clustered into nations that try to protect its advantages against other nations.)
Those who died for love of country in Bataan and Corregidor were not about the province of the companion beside him firing at the enemy. He may have asked but it did not matter. It was a historical contribution to identity. The Ilocanos, and the Pampaguenos, the Tagalogs and the Bisayans fought beside each other. And this process of identity is still going on, unifying the Filipinos from hundreds of islands and speaking a clutch of different languages. It is the forging of a number of different provincial identities into one. Through historical events and merging of cultures, we are melding into a nation or country worth dying for. But it must also be a country worth living for. We aim, desire and work for the welfare of "the people of this mixture" with which we identify. We are vigilant to protect it against tyranny whether it comes from Marxist ideology or Western liberalism. We work for its people’s economic well-being but most of all protect its fundamental freedom of being able to choose or reject the Almighty. We work for freedom from hunger, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance and freedom from coercion or tyranny. The country is a hodge podge of patrimony, national history, political state, cultures, languages, economic well-being, all merging in what we call our country, the Philippines. Somehow there is such a thing as Filipino spirit. It is when one moves out of the country whether for a visit or permanently that one appreciates this Filipino spirit. There is generosity, and helpfulness. There is the joyousness and carefree spirit that can go to extremes of fatalism. There is willingness to sacrifice and give even when it hurts. Of course there are mavericks and outlaws but those are the exceptions that confirm the rule. <emeterio_barcelon@yahoo.com>
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