by Benjie de Ubago

For Filipinos around the world, UNITY has been as elusive as a butterfly. People utter the word “unity” non-stop albeit actions reveal the contrary.

To celebrate “Buwan ng Wika” last August, the Tagalog Association of Australia (TAA) went on air on Pinoy Radio, and debated in the traditional Balagtasan style. The group tackled the perennial elusive question: “Kaya Bang Magkaisa ng Pilipino?” (Can the Filipinos be united?)

Balagtasan is an old public debating style where opposing groups argue an issue in poetic verse, sing-song fashion and rhyming words. Sadly, the art has lost its sheen in common everyday Philippines and even the Filipino language has been reduced to Taglish (a combination of English and Tagalog words). Kudos to the few who have not lost the art.

Founding President of TAA, Danny Peralta was the moderator and panelists included:  Ross, Aguilar of Pinoy Radio and Eric Maliwat taking the con arguments; while Rado Gatchalian and Cesar Bartolome (current President of TAA) took on the pro arguments.

Rado Gatchalian and Cesar Bartolome’s supporting arguments stated that history has proven that Filipinos are capable of banding together and kicking out undesirable regimes as per the EDSA revolution.  Gatchalian further stressed that the Filipinos are generally soft hearted and are quick to help when approached. He added that the culture and the values of being patriotic, religious made it easy for Filipinos to join forces for the greater good of all Filipinos. 

On the opposing side were Ross Aguilar and Erik Maliwat who decried:  “Like it or not, and painful as it may be to hear, we can’t be united!” Whether at work, in organizations and even in the small family unit, Filipinos are sadly at odds.   According to the duo, Filipinos are “sip-sip” (crawlers), have the “kanya-kanya” attitude (to each its own), and have a  crab mentality. They’ll put people down. It’s always about themselves; are sore losers;  “mukhang pera” (like money); and are quick to prod but slow to action.  They cited examples like the recruiters for overseas workers who disadvantage Filipinos without a care for their own personal gain. They further reminded that even Aguinaldo and Bonifacio’s relationship ended in tragedy. 

No winners were actually declared and the decision was left for the listeners to judge for themselves.

Having been around the community for more than 30 years, I thought I’d add my own take on unity in the community. Looking at the status quo of the Filipino communities in Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland, Perth and of course, right here in Sydney – Filipino communities are frayed and in complete disarray. Therefore, based on the current existing facts, I am inclined to say…we can’t!  The actions of the so called leaders do not match the words they spit. Rather than pacify, they incite. Pride and egos reign. Corrections and suggestions are not readily accepted. They tend to  gravitate towards super powers and title holders (fake or self appointed) and treatment for normal peeps is not the same. ‘Thank you’ and ‘I’m sorry’ are only for the etiquette books and no longer in their vocabularies. Being naturally non-confrontational, most Filipinos avoid conversations and dialogues, hence no resolutions are reached. be united!” Whether at work, in organizations and even in the small family unit, Filipinos are sadly at odds.   According to the duo, Filipinos are “sip-sip” (crawlers), have the “kanya-kanya” attitude (to each its own), and have a  crab mentality. They’ll put people down. It’s always about themselves; are sore losers;  “mukhang pera” (like money); and are quick to prod but slow to action.  They cited examples like the recruiters for overseas workers who disadvantage Filipinos without a care for their own personal gain. They further reminded that even Aguinaldo and Bonifacio’s relationship ended in tragedy. 

As Rado Gatchalian stated in one of his columns: “Ang pagpapakumbaba ang susi ng pagkakaisa” (Humility is the key to unity.)  Regretfully, humility is currently out of stock!

Filipin-Oz

September 6, 2020