Filipinozation

Ever since the era of the American occupation, we Filipinos have been dubbed the term “utak-alipin”. This is because, according to the majority, our hearts and loyalty belong to the Americans and not to our own country. We lack the nationalism needed for our culture and country to survive. But I learned, through a friend’s teacher, Mr. Coroza, that this is not true. We are no longer under the hands of our colonizers as some would most likely think. This is because whatever influence they put upon us went under the process “naturalization”. We are not merely passive receivers. We do something with whatever they give and we turn it into something else. We change it’s meaning and fit it to the culture we are used to. An example would be the concept of Karma. The Buddhist do not believe in our God. For them, Karma is a force in the world that acts to balance everything in life. If something good happens, karma creates a negative event to balance it out. But when this concept entered our culture, it went under naturalization and the meaning somehow changed. Because we are a Catholic country, we included our religion in the concept to better suit our culture. For us, we view Karma as God’s invisible hand used to bring justice to the poor and maltreated. This shows that we are not really under the influence of the Americans or any other previous colonizers. The things or beliefs we have are no longer theirs because we changed it and made it ours. And for this reason alone, I believe that we can call ourselves uniquely Filipinos- slave of no one and imitator of none.