Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise. -Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

Magayonon an Pilipinas.  According to history, it was a Jesuit priest, Fr. Juan Delgado who dubbed the Philippines as “The Pearl of the Orient Seas.”  Our national hero Jose P. Rizal (JP) must have picked up the phrase and endearingly called his beloved country, “Perla del Mar de Oriente” in his epic poem, “Mi Ultimo Adios”, and effectively immortalized the sobriquet.

Kan panahon na siya naghale sa Pilipinas para mag escuela sa mga unibersidad sa Espana, his heart must have been so heavy with grief. Grabe si kapungawan na namatean niya, sa saiyang banwaan asin pamilya. He was an exile. Well. he must have felt like he was in exile. Okey, naglarga siya parayo sa saiyang banwaan, yes, to pursue further studies and become a specialist in the medical field. But in his heart, he carried a great burden. He had such a great love for his country. But he was very disturbed by the fact, that his country was being forcibly run and ransacked by an alien power. His countrymen were being oppressed by foreign invaders. Mundo-on siyang marhay sa kamugtakan kan banwaan niya. He must have shown his unusual intelligence, early on, which he paired with a bellicose attitude which threatened the Spanish authorities. It made them uneasy and put them on guard constantly. Mainit si mga lamasyo kan mga kastila laban saiya.  For that, paghale niya, feeling exile siya.

Being in exile means “the state of being barred from one’s native country, typically for political or punitive reasons.”  Aram niyana gusto siyang kul’gan kan mga kalaban niya sa Pilipinas. Kaya kan siya yaon na sa Espana, nag-aadal, harayo sa saiyang namomo’tan na banwaan, naogma si mga kastila, habang siya naman mamundoon. But those who admired him, hailed him as a genius in his time, for many wondrous reasons starting from when he was a child: reason enough to say that the grandness of what he thought for his country and people was far greater than anyone’s own thoughts. Woefully, his motherland was in the grip of foreign invaders and subjected to relentless oppression.

Ako, unlike my hero JP, am not a genius, not a rabid lover of my country. Dae ako  mapabadil sa Luneta por dahil sa banwaan. But I do love my motherland, and I also love my countrymen. I live in the U.S. and been here for the past 17 years. Siguro, mapusngak ka, pag sinabi ko na, “feeling exile man (kuno) ako”. My case is not of the usual sense that I am barred from coming back to motherland, and that I may be arrested pag nagpuli ako. Mayo akong atraso sa gobyerno kan Pilipinas.  Mayo akong utang na dapat bayaran. Mayo ma-hunting sako. Pero, feeling exile ako dahil sa sentimiento na habo ko nang magbalik para mag-istar sa sadiri kong banwaan. Iyan ay por dahil sa makulogon an bo-ot ko sa nahihiling ko’ng lalong pagru’ro’ kan kamugtakan kan mas kadaklan kan mga Pilipino.

The rise in poverty of the number of our countrymen is diametrically opposed to the increase in number of millionaires and growing billionaires which is difficult to explain in a country that is so behind in industrialization, manufacturing of goods and export performance. An hapot ko: “Sain tabi hale an mga samagtak na nagbubuhay kan economiya sa Pilipinas?” A quick answer would be the labor export and the corresponding foreign currency inward remittances they generate. Okey, it would make me extremely happy if what is exported is talent and skill from technology, or products from intellectual property, and in return, the enormous amount of foreign currency that they command. But sadly, it’s the warm bodies of our very own citizens that is the subject of trade and sold for survival money for the families that they were forced to leave behind.  Do I need to spell out maids, nannies, manual workers in the Middle Eastern countries of Asia, and countries all over Europe?  We can leave out from the discussion for now, the enormity of the unbearable social impact that this situation creates in our society.

Let me qualify though, that I am speaking in general terms here. I show no numbers and statistics for the claim that I am advancing, for now. I just rest on the fact that this reality is inarguably evident and palpable.

What created this situation in our country then? We were way ahead in the economy and level of education than our Asean neighbors when the last plane of our colonizers took off and left us to our own devise, the “independence and democracy” (kuno!), That was in the 1950’s! So, explain it to me. Well, I tell you, and I have such a bitter taste in my mouth just saying it. It’s the governance. It’s the mismanagement and more than the mis, the mal, the malicious governance. Whaat?? Oh no! Whoa, boy! Woe! Alas! Bad word! Politics! Let’s not talk about it. Please!!

No, no. Dae tabi, Padi. Let’s face it. Squarely. We can’t, we musn’t avoid it. You love your country, you talk politics, and help straighten things out. Horop horopon mo tabi.

Pag pig orolayan ta yan, maruluwas na naman si mga pangaran na dae ta na dapat sambiton. It’s so much like the character in Harry Potter, you must not mention the name that can’t be mentioned, or words to that effect.  An katatapusan, mairiwal kita na mga mag-aramigo. Gusto mo tabi mangyari yan.??  Habo ko tabi na mangyari iyan. Let’s talk calmly and level-headedly, and more than anything else, let’s be honest and deal with just the truth.  Let me ask you? Siisay talaga nanggana sa presidential election?? Nahiling mo na iyan?? Sabi ko saimo mairiwal kita..

No no let’s be objective and say kun ano si nahiling ta. Okey, my answer is, “I don’t know. What about you??”  Iyo man an simbag ko. “I don’t really know??

Next question: “So, iyo na sana iyan? Papabayaan ta na lang na arog kaiyan? Matubod ka tabi, pag sinabo ko saimo that the election was rigged?? That it took an enormous amount of money and malicious use of technology for whoever who won, to have obtained the results that falsely came out??”

A few good men are sticking their necks out and using their own resources to track down and uncover the truth. Should the Filipinos just watch and listlessly stand by?? Or should you help out and dig dirt to lighten the load? Gusto ba nindo na an tunay na kapangyarihan yaon sa mga tawo, o nasa pira sanang mga palad na aram ta man na dae dapat?? Remember, freedom is earned, and does not drop down from heaven.

About the author: Alenn Nidea is a resident of New York, U.S.A. He is a Philippine attorney registered with the Office of Court Administration, New York State. He works as a financial professional and pursues an advocacy providing legal consulting services to the Filipino community in Queens, New York City.

Featured image: original painting by Athena Santos Magcase-Lopez.