One of the most thrilling feeling for someone held captive for so long is to have his freedom and to do exactly as he wish without being asked to do things against his will.
The Philippines under the Spanish rule for more than three hundred years was nowhere far from that. Our ancestors were given limited power in the government and were enslaved by the rich and powerful colonizers. Fortunately, Filipinos were still hopeful that everything will fall into place and all the unfortunate things will come to an end.
114th years ago on June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite - the Philippines attained its independence after years of fighting. Many were killed but the lives of the people who fought for freedom were never lost at all, never wasted, and will never be ignored.
We will fight those who plan to enslave or colonize us again. We will, in our power, to stop it once and for all. Mabuhay Pilipinas!
114 years and still counting...or do we? Our country may have gained independence from the Spaniards, but another kind of slavery linger. It is much more dangerous from the physical slavery that our ancestors suffered; colonial mentality; white is beautiful, imported is good; mixed races are superior...and so on. And with that, the colonizers succeed.
ReplyDeleteBut like all cynics believe, and as I do too, (in)dependence is just a state of mind.
At any rate, long live Filipinas!
I couldn't agree more Ate Eunice in reference to your definition of things that still enslave us. I don't see the demise of these kind of slavery any time soon. In fact, I don't see their demise at all. Not until we change our perspective that we Filipinos, just like other races, are individuals - unique in our own right.
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