Saturday, September 28, 2013

Being an Illustrado : A note on National Heroes Day

“There goes my hero, he’s ordinary ” goes a line from one my favorite songs by the Foo Fighters. 

I have always identified with this song for various reasons, but mostly because it reminds me of my everyday heroes - my late Lolo Marsing (who I fondly call Tatay) who has been an OFW all his life, he worked in Saudi to support his family, my Dad, who continues to take pictures of strangers for a living, my Mom  who has worked a 9-5 job since she was 20 while taking care of her family and doing all the house chores, my Lola (who I fondly call Mama) who remained strong and loyal throughout the years, married to an OFW and single-handedly raised her kids and grandkids - each of them and every hardworking Pinoy I’ve met in Dubai struggling to send money back home - they are my heroes. They inspire me to show up at work every day, to work hard and be nice.

Tatay worked as a Foreman for construction company in Saudi Arabia in 1980s. He had worked as an OFW for over 2 decades. 

Tatay on the field with another filipino co-worker. He was always generous and friendly towards them. Their wives would come to visit my grandma often and share stories. 


We celebrated National Heroes day recently amidst the brouhaha of the 10 Billion Peso Scam by Janet Napoles and our corrupt lawmakers. I hated them. I hated how the upper class, the elite, the ones in power continues to manipulate us like the Indios of Rizal’s time. But then I can’t help but think that maybe it is also our fault, the Middle Class, the Illustrado, the educated pinoy, the ones who know but can’t be bothered because we’re too busy taking selfies, or looking out for shopping bargains, working in our offices, watching out for low fares to Boracay, waiting for the next Superman installment, just maybe, we the so-called Illustrados, are in effect, to blame.

They say that Hate is not the opposite of Love, Apathy is. I am waking up to this realization that by being silent, by being apathetic, I have contributed to the damage. It is time we Illustrados rise up and fight for our rights and the rights of those who do not have a voice.

Tatay at their accomodation. Living in Dubai now, I can relate. 
Another day at work in the hot field. 

The Rise of the Middle Class

The recent Million People March that snowballed from social media to a full blown protest/picnic at the Rizal Park is a good indication of a middle class that is finally finding its voice. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and most of all, the blogsites that became a venue for Anonymous writers to freely reveal what they know. Detailed accounts of the nasty modus operandi of this long-standing organized mafia linked to some powerful people in government surfaced to the public via comments on a blog, free to share with no other agenda but to bring out the truth. 
Support came in from working class Filipinos from all sectors and from all over the world who felt the injustice of toiling everyday only to find out that their hard-earned tax-payers money is being squandered carelessly at Beverly Hills by some spoiled little rich girl who, perhaps unaware of their unexplained wealth, had the gall to post everything online. Her shiny Louboutins and their Disneyland mansions plastered all over social media made the case increasingly harder for us to ignore. These visuals triggered the ire of the otherwise indifferent middle class who finally found something to fight for.



 Fighting for Change

When I was younger, I refused to participate in discussions involving religion and politics thinking that these things are better left to the “adults.”  I was resigned to corruption in the Philippines the same way I was resigned to my Catholic upbringing. Both were something I was born into and were too late to change. Besides, I had other things I’d much rather worry about, like “bakit hindi ako crush ng crush ko?” 

It was only when I came to Dubai, when I lived with our kabayans and met many other different nationalities that I started to open my eyes to the realities of being a Christian and being a Filipino. I learned how it is not easy being a Pinoy in the Middle East and how coming from a third-world country limits my opportunities despite my merits. I saw first-hand how the lack of jobs in the Philippines has led many to leave their families behind and how corruption in the Philippine government continues to take advantage of our OFWs.
On the other hand, I also witnessed first-hand the kindness of strangers, especially of kabayans, how their simple “malasakit” have changed countless lives and steered them for the better. I was reacquainted with the phrase “love thy neighbor as you love thyself” in a concrete setting.  I learned that faith, more than anything else, is an action word, and if I wanted anything to change I needed to get involve. Cliché as it may seem, the change I wanted to see really had to begin with me.

Tatay on a rare occassion of attending my grade school graduation, with my Mom and Mama (grandma) . I did my best to make them proud, that gold medal was priceless to them.  


It’s all in the mind

A revolution, a real revolution, the kind that inspires real change, all of them begins in the mind.
In most Pinoy gatherings  (and we have a lot of these with a lot of pork dishes too), I hear talk about corruption, all of us pinoys hate our government, but only a few really believe that Philippines can be saved.  I cannot blame them. Hundreds of years had passed since our national hero, Rizal wrote his epic Noli me Tangere, yet it remains relevant today, reflecting the same ills that our society is suffering from since the 1800s. Nothing much has changed.

The 10 Billion Peso Pork Barrel scam and its catastrophic implications are no less than disheartening. I can understand the sentiments of most of my collegues when they say “wala naman mangyayari” or “ganyan naman lagi”. 

Perhaps it is so, but the little spark in me won’t die because I know for a fact (and I can swear on my Lolo’s grave) that heroes, real heroes, are just ordinary men and women doing extraordinary things.  

If only we can change our way of thinking, if only we start to believe in our own capabilities. There is no better time for us, the Illustrados, to wake up and inspire the change we want to see by sticking to our ideals and sharing what we know. Today, with social media as our connecting thread, one click can go a long way.  It is time to finally make use of our expensive smartphones and education degrees that are parents worked hard to provide.


It is time for us to actively participate in our country’s future as we all share a common destiny. It is about time we stop wasting our potential. Be a hero minus the dorky cape.     

Tatay's final resting place. He has lived and died a hero and he will stay in our hearts forever.

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates
They say you shouldn't believe the things you tell yourself at night but I tend to believe in seven impossible things before breakfast so I might as well them down.

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