One Filipino trait that is most remarked upon even by visiting international celebrities are the Filipino people’s smiling faces. One tourist remarked that when she was out shopping in a mall that caters to the ultra rich, the people she met inside the shopping area, outside of the store attendants, smiled at her albeit with tiny shy smiles. (Personally, it would seem rather odd if people will give a stranger a big smile). When she went out of the mall and encountered other Filipinos not financially endowed, they also gave her tiny smiles. She said in the interview that this gave her a happy feeling even if she was, at first, not inclined to be happy that day.
Indeed, the Philippines was found out to be one of the happiest people on earth. Despite poverty, calamities, political imbroglio, terrorists, crimes, and the lot, the Filipinos still have something to be happy and cheerful about. Filipinos are just happy to be alive and given the opportunity and the blessedness to still enjoy life however bleak and blurry it may seem.
Filipinos love to party, they love attending town feasts; they love social gatherings and being with other people. Filipinos also love to eat and talk. Filipinos also love to know what is happening around them, and what is happening to the people around them. Filipinos just love to be alive. Being alive gives them the reason to be happy because Filipinos believe that as long as one is alive, there is hope.
Yes, Filipinos are happy. They are happy about everything. Remember the original EDSA People Power of 1986, when they filled the air with songs and with flowers. Living near Camp Aguinaldo before but not permitted to go outside the house, I can hear the people laughing outside. If you did not know there was a revolution, you would think that there was a street party just by the happy sound of it.
Yes, Filipinos do embody happiness and cheerfulness.
Another Filipino trait to be proud about is resilience. An article I read in the newspaper sometime ago compared Filipino resilience with that of a bamboo. It is thin but stands tall. When strong wind comes, it only bends but never breaks. It is just flexible enough to permit the wind to pass through because it knows that sooner or later, the wind will stop and it can stand straight again. It knows how to adjust and to adapt to its environment. This really and truly personifies the Filipinos.
When there is abundance, Filipinos enjoy the fruits of their labor. When scarcity comes, they tighten their belts. When calamity strikes, they go down for a little while but rises up quickly, takes stock of the situation, checks on their families, and goes marching out to extend their helping hand.
Remember Ondoy and Pepeng? How about the Mount Pinatubo eruption? What about the early 1990s earthquake?
Bicol is a province that a typhoon loves to visit. It seems as if almost every typhoon that enters the Philippine area of responsibility in Luzon strives to reach the Bicolanos every time. Bicol is not only “attractive” to typhoon, it also has a very active volcano with the perfect cone. At times, there are even guerillas around.
Yet, when one visits Bicol, you will not see frowning and sad Bicolanos. After every calamity, they pick themselves up and go on with their lives.
.The third trait I admire about Filipinos is their sense of religiosity, which might also have an influence on the two previous traits mentioned above. No matter what formal religion one is a member of, one never fails to acknowledge God or a Supreme Being wherever one is.
Have you noticed the pound-for-pound boxing king Manny Pacquiao before he starts the game and also after the game? It is written that before going to the arena, a mass is said in his hotel room. In the ring, he kneels down at his corner and prays. When the bell sounds, he makes the sign of the cross. After the game and he won, he raises up his eyes to heaven and acknowledges his God to thank Him amid the uproar in the boxing arena.
Certainly, one can be happy and cheerful, resilient, and many more amid crisis and calamities if one truly believes that he is being loved unconditionally and someone is looking after his wellbeing always.
No comments:
Post a Comment