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No, Winnie, Filipinos who go overseas are not traitors


I am a Filipino. I live and work in the United States. I have established myself as a physician of some stature in my community. American physicians acknowledge me as an esteemed colleague, students look up to me as their mentor, patients respect me as their doctor. They do not question the color of my skin. They do not treat me any differently from any other respected member of their community. I have been integrated into their lifestyle and have adapted to their culture. I speak as they speak. But I am Filipino. And I am proud of it.

The Lost Generation of Americans from the 1920s includes some of the most easily recognizable names in American literature: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, E.E. Cummings, and T.S. Eliot. Why are they the lost generation? Because they chose to live the life of expatriates in Europe, Central America, and other places in the world at that time. They expressed the thoughts and feelings of young Americans from that period when there was a general exodus of the intellectual elite, recent graduates, artists, war veterans and the independently wealthy. They spoke American in those foreign lands, and yes, they became fluent in French or Spanish as well. But they remained American, and to this day, America loves them. Gertrude Stein characterized the expatriates’ sentiment in these words, “America is my country, and Paris is my home town." This is the essence of every expatriate’s attitude towards their country of origin, whatever it may be; there is a place that we consider home, but this is not our homeland. And the country we have adopted acknowledges in no small measure that whatever beauty or knowledge or skill we have brought in to their soil remains rooted in the land from whence we first came. Whenever I receive the occasional compliment for a medical paper I write or a patient I make better, and the person who speaks my praise describes me to another, invariably the narrative would include, “that Filipino doctor from Connecticut". I have never denied my ethnicity, but it does not define me in my career. I stand successful and respected for who I am and what I do, regardless of race, color or accent. Americans delight in the success of a well-established immigrant. They celebrate the courage and tenacity and sacrifice it took for someone to succeed in self-exile. They accept them as fellow Americans, yet appreciate too the ethnic background that makes them different. But in my country of origin, in my homeland, they apparently speak of me and think of me as a traitor. Professor Solita Monsod of the University of the Philippines, in a video of a lecture to her students currently being circulated by unquestionably well-meaning Filipinos to expatriates they know and love, expressed her anger towards those who have chosen to leave their home and their people to find work, sustenance and success in another land. How is this different from a Manileño who chooses to re-establish himself and his family in Cagayan de Oro because the business opportunities there turned out to be more conducive to his success? How is it a betrayal of the Filipino people for a Filipino in another country to be recognized and applauded for the good that he does on a global scale? How am I a traitor when the dollars I earn here translate into businesses and consumer confidence and local spending by the family and people I still support back home? How is it that I am a fool when I have wrought only respect and admiration and love in this country for a Filipino? Professor Monsod suggested that Filipinos abroad “pay back" what is owed to the country. In my lifetime, I hope I have done a lot of good, and have paid forward. Filipinos overseas are self-exiles. We chose to leave our homeland when this became intellectually, politically, financially, artistically or philosophically limiting or oppressive. We are drawn to another country because of the vitality of its intellectual, scientific or artistic scene, its support and tolerance for innovation, progress and intellectual energy, and by its high regard for the immigrant who brings in new talent and skill, allowing him or her the freedom to achieve success, find his or her identity and express his or her ideas. Self-actualization in another land is not a crime. And Filipinos back home, who seek their own success, would be well-served to rejoice in ours. We are no different. We are just far from home. - HS, GMANews.TV A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Dear Editor, It’s been a couple of days now since you very kindly posted the response I wrote to the farewell lecture of Professor Monsod to her students. I’d like to thank you most sincerely for considering it worthy. Since then, I’ve seen a number of comments on your website, and there are now a few things that I regret having left unsaid. Foremost is that, yes, absolutely, I am a UP College of Medicine graduate, did undergrad at Diliman, and that most certainly, this is the reason that I responded as I did. But no, there was no wish for self-promotion in my response, nor was there self-righteous indignation. The reason I put down my full name in the byline was because I do not abide by hiding behind anonymity when expressing dissenting thoughts or opinions. I would implore people to always look deeper and think higher when evaluating anything in their lives. Take the high ground in every situation, and this is what leads to living a life with honor and excellence. I do not disagree with Professor Monsod in most of the things she said in that lecture. My only variance with her was when she opted to pass judgment and blanketed those of us who chose to go overseas into a mold that she believed to be the right one. Of course there is much merit in a UP graduate’s staying in the Philippines to try and make a difference in this way, but I am suggesting that there may be other ways of serving the country and bringing honor to its people. A Filipino’s decision to sacrifice all that is familiar and well-loved, and start a new life abroad is not only about financial gain. There is a desire to be the best that one can be, to do the most that one can do, and find that which has not been found. If I realize that my quest to do the most I can with this one life I have to live, can no longer be fulfilled in the country I now call home, then it will be time to move on once more. We all have this one life to do the most good and find the greatest happiness and fulfillment; don’t let anyone limit you in any way. And to nay-sayers who felt that personal attacks serve some higher purpose, yes, I do believe that I have always tried to abide by the university motto, and to live my life with honor and excellence. I choose not to validate these comments by responding in kind, but know that I am perpetually driven by a pervasive desire to do what is just and loving and true. Over the years, however, I have learned that moral obligation is no longer ONLY to an individual country or people, but to the entire human race. To always try to pay it FORWARD is my mantra, and I believe that if everyone did the same, then our country, and indeed the whole world would then be a better place because we have lived. When I sent my article for your consideration, I told my best friend that I hope it would serve a purpose. I have seen many comments by fellow Filipinos since that demonstrate the same overwhelming pride I have always had in being Filipino. There are also many who share global views and universal truths, an enlightened and non-judgmental faction of our people. My hope is that we may all find that such an attitude is the one that serves us best. If we all seek to become our best selves in every way, wherever we are and in whatever we do, I do not doubt that we are then serving and honoring our country, our people and mankind. Pay it forward, and do not ask to be paid back. Give everything to everyone in equal measure. The world is one and an outstanding Filipino can be an exemplary citizen of a new global community. God bless Professor Monsod. God bless us all. Sincerely, Toni de Marcaida
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