We're 10 minutes away from the 12th of July. The day Filipinos finally tasted freedom after centuries of captivity. Today, if you walk out, keep your chin up and utter 6 little words for the heroes who died before your time, "You did not die in vain."
Happy Independence Day to the Republic of the Philippines! At times, I wish i was born in a different country, in a different and cold continent; but for all the brave Filipinos who fought for our freedom and continuously fighting for freedom, I am proud to be a Filipino.
If you are like me, thriving to leave the motherland in search of cold and glamorous life then you must be forgetting something. This country is oozing with heroes disguised as the dark, thin fishermen risking their lives to provide fishes to every Filipinos and non-Filipinos as well; or the elder, tall farmers breaking theirs backs for every person who has forgotten about them. Those are just few but greatly unappreciated. If for one second, you open your eyes, you will see that these people with great contributions get the least support from the people they passionately and whole-heatedly work for. When we turn on the television and watch the news, we are bombarded by news about Filipinos criticizing their own country. For a quick second, they might talk about the problems the small people in the country are facing and my heart breaks everytime I see the farmers who's land is 3 days close to harvesting, except, they rain drowned their rice and crops wasting half a hear of their lives or thousands of peso they could never take back. Or, to be more recent, the fishkill, that not only killed tons of fishes but also killed the small scale businesses of these fishermen striving to make ends meet, hence, leaving them and their businesses paralyzed for months. Or these call center agents looked down upon by these glamorous, high-paying, normal-hour regulating jobs, except they're working to keep foreign companies investing in the country and increasing the economical value of this land. You see, these people, these little people some say, are the ones that amplify the quality of living we put up with and often ignore.
This country is more than you choose to see. Freedom or the fight for freedom did not stop when people died fighting, it goes on and it will never stop. In case you forget, you are also fighting for freedom, we all are. We Filipinos may not be grand or great, but we walk with pride.
So maybe the next time you feel like the heat is getting in to you, grab a bottle of water, step outside your house and look around. Look at the people you pass by or pass by you with pride and gratitude, for you have lived to see a hero or you've lived to be hero yourself.
Happy 113th Independence Day indeed!
For all the brave souls who fought for this country, you died not in vain. Thank you. Happy Independence Day to the Philippines!
