Being Filipino

The barrage of strong, sometimes nasty commentary on whether Grace Poe is Filipino made me wonder what drives this narrow-minded sentiment. Let me say from the start that I have not made a decision to vote for Grace. I am still hoping Dick Gordon or Rody Duterte will make that decision to run because they will at least give us a real choice, as well as hope.

But more than our dilemma in choosing our next president, what troubled me over the past few days is our rather restricted idea of who is Filipino. The ugliness of it all happened twice in recent months – once in reaction to Frankie Sionil Jose’s essay that questioned the loyalty of Chinese Filipinos.

The second instance was last week as Grace Poe announced her intention to seek the presidency. The debate in Grace’s case is complicated by the constitutional requirement for one to be a natural born Filipino to be president. Whether Grace qualifies depends on how the Supreme Court interprets the Constitution given her circumstances.

Beyond the legal aspects, I wonder if the viciousness of opinions expressed online against Grace Poe is more of an upper middle class concern rather than masa. The masa seems comfortable with Grace, if the opinion polls are to be believed, despite the citizenship issue.

I think the masa understands why a Filipino would choose to go abroad and even get citizenship there. The masa doesn’t seem to be judgmental about personal decisions like that. The masa does not think Grace turned her back on the country by taking on American citizenship at one point in her life.

 Perhaps, the masa knows that being Pinoy is in the heart. Once a Pinoy, always a Pinoy. Filipinos are now like Jews. We are everywhere in the world carrying a variety of passports, but our hearts remain Filipinos as Jews remain Jews wherever they may be.

Our Congress recognized this reality by passing the Dual Citizenship Law. It allows Pinoys who take on another citizenship to retain their Pinoy citizenship. Thus, when a dual citizen Pinoy comes home, his other citizenship doesn’t matter.

I have a more liberal view of what it means to be Pinoy, perhaps because I am the only one in my family who does not hold a foreign passport. I sent all my kids abroad because I felt it would be good for them to get their careers started in a world class environment so they get the right work habits and attitudes.

I could have jump started their careers here, but what’s the fun in that? Now they feel they are making it in the world on their own merits. And if they come back, no one can say their success is because of my connections. Grace and her husband could have felt the same way and even more because her father after all is FPJ who can open more doors than I.

People have their own reasons for leaving the country. Many of our OFWs, but by no means all, left the country because our economy has nothing to offer them.

I, myself, chose to remain here even if I had the opportunity to live in the US and perhaps even become a US citizen. I thought God intended for me to be Filipino or I wouldn’t have been born here. I also have a messianic streak which made me think I could change the system for the better.

I do not think I can judge others like Grace who chose the other path. Jim Paredes chose to migrate to Australia, but eventually returned home. He isn’t less of a Filipino for having, dispite what some people would say, abandoned the country.

I was wondering… what if it was not Grace Poe, but someone as worthy as Dado Banatao who is running for president. Would we be as vicious in minimizing his candidacy? Would we insist he is no longer qualified because he once took an oath of allegiance to the United States?

What if it was Loida Nicolas Lewis? She is as Filipino as can be, works hard for Philippine interests abroad but is close enough to President Obama for him to attend a party in her New York apartment. Is she disqualified for being both Filipino and American?

We would be selling ourselves short if we rule out world class Pinoys who may have taken foreign citizenships, but are very much Pinoys at heart and by virtue of our Dual Citizenship Law.

I would rather we take the attitude of Israel, who some years ago, had an American-Israeli dual citizen, Stanley Fischer as governor of their Central Bank. Fischer is now vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, the US Central Bank.

Perhaps this “patriotic protectionism” is an overreaction to our economic elite of Chinoys and the Spanish mestizos who control the big businesses here. A feeling of helplessness has morphed into deep seated resentment.

We have expanded that negative feeling to cover our compatriots returning from abroad. There is probably also the “inggit” factor at work. Why should balikbayans have it both ways while we stuck it out here?

I am told this feeling is strong in the medical community. Pinoy doctors who have practiced abroad are not welcome to come home and practice here. They even lose their license to practice here once they take on another citizenship.

One Pinoy doctor who returned told me “Pinoy doctors are practicing all over the world as Pinoys. When l passed the USA medical board, l was still a Pinoy. I believe this is fairly typical.”

Indeed, even the occasional medical missions are frowned upon by the local medical community. It isn’t as if we have enough doctors in the country to care for all our people.

Anyone who has waited for hours in a long line outside a doctor’s clinic here knows we need more specialists. And the professional development of local doctors would benefit from interaction with foreign-based Pinoy doctors who practiced here.

What is it really to be Pinoy? Will some drops of Chinese or other foreign blood make us less Pinoy? If so, then only the indigenous people, the lumads, should have full citizenship rights here.

Anyway, former Tourism Usec Wally Reyes, now based in Los Angeles, sent me this reaction which presents an overseas Pinoy perspective:

“For whatever it takes, does one lose his FILIPINO BLOOD when he becomes a Fil-Am? a Fil-European? a Fil-Australian, etc, etc, etc.... Is it taboo for overseas Filipinos to want to help the motherland, by coming back and doing their share to serve the Philippines?

“Is it inconceivable to have overseas Filipinos give up their adopted country and come back to the Philippines and swear allegiance again to their native land? Please do not belittle the love for country of overseas Filipinos.

“Our hearts and minds continue to be Filipinos and, if we can make an impact and help improve the Philippines, we will not have second thoughts of returning to do our part of nation building. Do not love us for sending dollars to the country; love us because we care for the country!”

Wally is right. We should embrace returning Pinoys and not treat them as second class citizens unable to enjoy all the political rights they are entitled to as citizens, including the right to be elected president.

I am not saying Grace is worthy to be president. That is a determination all of us must make. But to demonize her because she once held a US passport seems wrong.

There are many reasons why I may not even vote for Grace and none of those are about her residency or citizenship history. I am worried about her running mate.

Chiz, as we all know, worked with the Samar side of the current Palace gang and supported Jojo Binay in 2010. I heard, this group is moving to support Grace-Chiz, P-Noy’s endorsement of Mar notwithstanding.

If that happens, tuloy ang ligaya nila. The unsavory side of Daang Matuwid is courtesy of this side of the Palace.

I personally like Grace. I know she will work hard to deliver the kind of government that would serve our people. Unfortunately, I am sure she will fail miserably with that gang on her side.

Let us focus on the issues and candidate attributes that matter. Let us also understand the Pinoy is now a global citizen and our being so boosts our economy. Being global citizens allowed us to show the world how good and talented we are, despite the mess in the governance of the home country.

I want to end with a fantastic new song by Dennis Garcia and the Hotdog band that expresses the Pinoy expat’s sentiment and proves my point that being Pinoy is in the heart. Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/chubiboDENNIS/videos/835547559899591/?pnref=story

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is  [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco