A week ago the Philippine Reporter celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gala event. Several Filipino organizations shared the joyous occasion. The Hon. Mayor of Toronto, David Miller was the main speaker. He underscored the contributions of the paper to the culture growth of one of the most multi cultural cities in the world – Toronto
There was every reason for the Philippine Reporter to celebrate. It is one of the few Filipino local papers that have steadily and regularly published in the last twenty years. It has been in the forefront in championing social justice issues that affect Filipinos in Canada, in the Philippines and other parts of the world. The paper was the product of a labour of love, persistence, and commitment of members of a family and a few other people who believe in the same worthy causes worth fighting for. As one of the founders, Mila Astorga Garcia said,” It started on the table of a kitchen wherein we made the layouts.”
The success of this ethnic paper, which has been the recipient of several mainstream media awards, may be attributed to a great degree to the journalistic talents and consistent goal in pursuing the truth of the two people at its helm.
Its editor, Hermie Garcia is a University of the Philippines graduate in Economics who started professional journalism when he was 22 by establishing the Dumaguete Times in 1969 with Mila and a few other students from Manila and Dumaguete City. His exposes on land grabbing and sufferings of peasants in Sugarlandia landed him in jail together with his entire staff. The massive press freedom campaign by the National Press Club supported by universities and international media organizations led to the release of the journalists.
He continued his courageous pursuit for social justice, which led to his detention during the Marcos Regime, along with other journalists and professionals.
Unbowed and unafraid, he continued writing while in detention and after his release, and worked on editorial tasks for two national daily newspapers in the Philippines before his migration with his family to Canada in 1984.
Mila Garcia was one of the young woman writers in the late seventies and early eighties who worked hard for the recognition of the place of women in journalism.
She was one of the three editors of the books “Filipina 1 (1984) and Filipina –2 (1985) the first Anthologies of Contemporary Women Writers in the Philippines. She was the author of a well-researched essay: The Philippine Press: What are the Boundaries of Freedom?, a courageous analysis of the state of freedom of the press in the Philippines before, during and after martial law.
Hermie and Mila Garcia brought with them to Canada that ever-burning fire in their hearts for fighting for social justice issues of the day wherever they exist.
The Filipino community is very proud of the contributions of the Philippine Reporter to the Canadian mosaic.
During the invocation before the banquet in this celebration, a part of the prayer asked for keeping the pride in being Filipino. An extra emphasis was given to this appeal that raised curiosity. What was the intention in including this request in the prayer? Do we lack pride in being Filipino? Is it calling for more ways of demonstrating our pride in being a Filipino?
The gala celebration was an occasion to demonstrate that pride in the accomplishments of some of our people. But of course, there are some other aspects of pride in nationhood that are worth exploring.
In the Philippines we take our pride in being Filipino for granted. In school, children are taught about the bravery and courage of our forefathers and how they relentlessly fought for freedom. Every morning students recite the pledge “Ako ay Filipino”.
The almost four centuries of colonization of the Philippines have left indelible imprints on its people. May still believe that the rampant corruptions in Philippine society and government are vestiges of the feudalism brought by foreigners who once ruled the country. There is still that “barangay mentality” wherein we think of the common good of the local group rather than the national concerns. There is still that preference for goods made abroad rather than for the local products. While we talk in our Filipino primary languages among ourselves, we speak in English in public gatherings, even if those present are mostly Filipinos.
Living outside the Philippines has made us more conscious of our nationhood. This is especially true in Canada where respect for one’s roots is recognized. In the United States of America, the concept of assimilation is more prevalent. If you decide to live in America, be an American.
In Canada, diversity of culture and traditions is celebrated. This policy gives its very multicultural population the opportunity to demonstrate pride in their roots whether this be in language, clothing, religion, food, cultural celebrations and traditions. Attempts were even made to practice legal systems of their own although this was not carried out.
As a people in a foreign land, what are we proud of?
To be able to answer this question, we should first engage in a self- appraisal of what we Filipinos are like. This is a difficult task to undertake as there is a danger for us to be subjective.
I would like to share with you some ideas on the subject from one of the most well known Filipino nationalists, Leon Ma. Guerrero. In his book, “We Filipinos”, a section was devoted on “What are Filipinos Like?” The book was published in 1984 but this article was written in 1952. While the thoughts were expressed more than half a century ago, they are still relevant in many ways to us Filipinos of the twenty-first century.
Leon Ma. Guerrero himself was trying to avoid subjectivity when he decided to answer the question by asking some foreign friends to share their impressions of the Filipino, I quote here what he wrote: “I was told that we were friendly, good-natured, loyal ,idealistic, sentimental, socially gracious unwilling to accept responsibility, lacking in self-reliance, indolent, undisciplined.
We can easily relate to the positive traits mentioned but it is a bit hard to swallow the last four negative traits. We have evidence that we are well liked the way we easily make friends with people of different cultural groups and how we easily adapt to new environments. Filipino nurses who made up the bulk of the early mass Filipino emigration are appreciated not only for their commitment to their profession but also for their compassion and tender care for their patients.
Loyal and sentimental? Look at how most of us devotedly take care of our relatives in the Philippines by regularly sending them our hard-earned money. We do not only support members of our immediate family; we assist brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces. We take care of our elders; very few among us would ever think of putting them in nursing homes.
This family system, Ma. Guerrero opined had contributed to the lack of self-reliance among our people when they can depend on some members of the family for support. We can however, rebut this opinion by pointing out the fact that members of the extended family have to help one another as a means of survival in a society wherein there is hardly any social services and support from government.
Are we indolent, unwilling to accept responsibility and undisciplined.? One cannot survive in a foreign land if he or she has these traits. The environment has much to do in one’s adjustment and success in life. Most of us Filipinos have made a comfortable place for ourselves here in Canada. We could not have accomplished most of the things that we now enjoy if we have not worked hard for them.
While most of us have done very well and are proud of our accomplishments, it would be desirable for us to dwell on those areas wherein we can fare better. Filipinos have not made much impact in political participation in our communities. There is no scarcity of talent; we have many capable people who can take part in policy-making. Filipinos are one of the most highly educated groups of immigrants in this country.
Living in another country which we now consider our home, our pride in being Filipino can be best demonstrated not only in satisfying our needs but also in making ourselves interested in all the issues that Canada faces, and contributing our talents, energies and voice and in every little way that we can to be a part of the Canadian Mosaic.
