Where dreams are born

      Douglas MacArthur

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If Rizal is two novels about Spain’s occupation of the Philippines, what is his relevance to the Filipino of today?

Rizal Who?

A foreign object sufficient enough to rally a vociferous portion of society round our flag would have been US military presence on our soil. But that is gone, and like war, it is history, and, if that were put to a vote, if the masses had their druthers, this country would be the fifty-first state of the union, and they would be clamoring for snow. Apparently, injury to pride or person is not enough: the Japanese occupation was replete with scenes of soldiers bayoneting infants, raping country lasses. However, today, they are de facto conquerors and we are Open City to Japanese commerce. The gringo is still loved, despite having mistaken Filipino boys for wild boars and, getting away with murder – literally – with the help of the US government; despite scenes like a consul screaming at a Filipino woman with obvious bar breeding (she was freshly married to a US serviceman, a quality that made her a visa applicant whom he could not deny). These scenes, no matter how widespread, cannot prompt a surge in nationalist fervor.

The American is loved by the Filipino, and he’s not handing out just chocolate bars anymore. I saw two young American servicemen haggling with a teen-age girl selling antiques. As they were walking away, I overheard one of the lads excitedly say to the other, “did you hear that? Did you hear what she said? She said, ‘Buy one, take me!’”

The generation of my parents had heroes, and Rizal was not one of them. Macarthur “I Shall Return” pins and flyers were lovingly saved for posterity.

My parents were educated by Americans, they sang and danced the songs and dances of Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, et al. They were teary-eyed listening to the poignancy of songs like “White Christmas”. Simply stated, we had Counterfeit ‘Canos for parents, and five million of them were card-bearing members of Antonio’s Statehood Philippines Movement.

If we bewail the absence of fervor, the lack of significance of Rizal in the present generation, we have our parents to blame.

Too bad Macarthur was not Filipino; he would have made National Hero. In fact, he could have installed himself rather than Rizal, and most Filipinos would have been happier with the choice.

Love of Country (in a country like the Philippines)

There are aspects to the Philippines that, while greatly diminished since Rizal’s time, still distinguish this country.

You can still marry a certified virgin; the children are still more polite; “kuya”, “ate”, “opo” are not strange to the ear. And you can still spank your brat without being hailed to court for child abuse. In contrast, the teenager in the States can call her mother ‘bitch’ to her face and one of four public schoolchildren in America bring some form of weapon to school.

Learning: These concerns do compose a love of country but are not large enough to define one’s nationalism, or prevent one from leaving the country, and leaving it to rot.

continued: The Filipino at a Crossroads

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