Indie

Once again, we are celebrating Independence Day.

Forget Bill Pullman and Will Smith. Hindi na ito battle against aliens. This is our own real battle.

How many years have we been celebrating Independence Day. 111 years right?



Since that fateful day when Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo waved the Philippine flag from his balcony in Kawit, Cavite, idineklara na rin niya ang June 12 bilang taunang celebration of Philippine Independence.

Maybe he thought, sa wakas, we are an independent republic. No more foreign rulers, no more pakikialam from outsiders. This is our very own.

Or so he thought.

After the Spaniards, sinakop din tayo ng mga Japanese and Americans.

Okay, huwag na nating balikan ang nakaraan. Magbasa na lang kayo ng Araling Panlipunan kung gusto niyong mag-recall ng Philippine history.

Fast forward to today.

[cue Jerry Springer from Miss Universe]

How do you define independence?

Siyempre, as a certified Thank You Girl, ito ang sagot ko.

“Thank you for that very wonderful question. I believe that independence is a noun pertaining to being independent. Being independent does not mean standing alone. It means you are able to survive on your own by utilizing the resources available within your reach. In general, you do not need to depend on these entities to be able to survive but you have to have the ability to convert them into materials to use for your own advantage.”

Bwahahaha! Talo na naman.

Anyway, back to the topic.

Is there a reason for us to celebrate Independence Day?

Of course there is.

Despite all the pressure from the outside world as well as internal threats to freedom our country has encountered, guess what, we are still here.
We are still able to fight these negativity.

Corruption, calamities, disease, terrorism, they are all challenges in moulding us to be in better shape. Wala naman exempted pagdating dito. Kailangan lang harapin.

Yes, there are also occasional pakikialam ng other countries, especially the US, but of course, that’s part of the plan. Siyempre, social climber ang Pilipinas kaya kailangan din niyang dumepende sa isang superpower gaya ng US.

The Philippines has come a long way since 1898.

We have no time to surrender.

There are more positive things that we can concentrate on to further develop not only ourselves but also in contributing to our country’s wellness.

The current issues haunting us, well, let’s do our part in defending our rights and our freedom. This is a moral issue. They may be in power but the people is more powerful. We’ve done it before, we can still do it now.

You may think yours is just a small voice but a small voice altogether can make perfect harmony.

I think I know what to do.

[cue Stanley Tucci from The Devil Wears Prada]

“Do you?”





Personal:

P.S. Happy Birthday to my dear friend Potpot. May you have more happy birthdays and wishing you all the happiness in the world.

Huwag ka nang magtampo. Sige ka at hindi mo na magiging kamukha si Enchong Dee. Mwaaah!