Pinoys in America

NEW YORK – One of them arrived at the JFK Airport decades ago to try his luck here in the Land of Milk and Honey armed with nothing but $150 in his pocket, that Great American Dream, and a childhood vision that once came to him in his sleep when he was a young boy of nine. In his slumber, he saw snow falling on Central Park, this city’s 843-acre public park and felt snowflakes kissing his face. Today, decades later, he is living that Great American Dream. And that snow in Central Park is his somnambulant spell every winter time here. Dreams do come true, he says.

Things changed when COVID-19 struck. His restaurant business closed; there was nothing but empty tables; empty chairs. For the first time since arriving in the US, he thought of going back to the Philippines, but his Manila-based friends convinced him otherwise.

“There’s nothing in the Philippines for you,” he was told.

And so he stayed here. Now, two years into the pandemic, he’s still here, no longer dreaming, but actually living his Great American Dream. His resto in Tribeca is filled to the brim.

Another Pinoy in America, a journalism graduate, couldn’t find a husband in the Philippines. She’s too tall, a towering figure at 5’8 or so, so she moved to America.

“Filipino men would rather be castrated than marry someone taller than them,” she says in between laughs.

She is now married to an American and has a high-paying job. Going back to the Philippines is no longer part of her life plans.

“The government has failed us,” she laments.

Another Pinay I met here works in a convenience store. She’s been here for 11 years now and she likes it.

She goes home once in a while, but only for vacation. The only thing she sorely missed in the Philippines is pansit palabok. She’s happy there’s now a Jollibee in Times Square, not too far from where she works. She also finds comfort in Little Manila in Queens where there are many Filipino restaurants. There’s even a branch of the Philippine National Bank.

In Wyoming, I met a Pinoy driver. Upon reaching the border of Nevada at the crack of dawn after a 14-hour drive from Jackson Hole, we stopped and played in an empty casino, one that was reeking of the fetid smell of cigarette smoke.

“Let’s try our luck here,” he said.

It’s exactly what his family did when they moved to the US decades ago. They tried their luck in America.

Now, he is living his Great American Dream in San Jose, California as a political consultant, property developer and occasional driver. Hard work and luck showed him the way.

And by the way, as luck would have it, we won some dollars in the casino.

The Filipino diaspora

There are roughly 4.2 million Filipinos in America, dreaming, chasing and some, luckily, already living their Great American Dream. They usually never go back except for some visits. For many Filipinos abroad, plans of retiring in the Philippines have disappeared into the skies like fancy red balloons.

Nevertheless, they are proudly waving the Philippine flag, not once forgetting who they are.

They’re Filipinos and proud of it. It’s just that they chose to search for greener pastures here, none of which they could find in our Motherland.

Why do people leave the Philippines? They say it’s the lack of gainful opportunities in the country, that frustrating feeling that some things in our country just don’t work, and that no matter how hard you toil, you rarely feel the government works for your benefit.

Every man for himself

More than the economic opportunities, I strongly believe what is missing in our country is that culture of unity and nationalism, of love for country and for our fellowmen. We have degenerated into a society where it’s every man for himself, and sadly, this has prompted many Filipinos to pack their bags and find their destiny elsewhere.

American writer James Fallows has a similar view: “When a country with extreme geographic, tribal, and social-class differences like the Philippines, has only a weak offsetting sense of national unity, its public life does become the war of every man against every man.”

“The tradition of political corruption and cronyism, the extremes of wealth and poverty, the tribal fragmentation, the local elite’s willingness to make a separate profitable peace with colonial powers – all reflect a feeble sense of nationalism and a contempt for the public good,” Fallows said in a 1987 article published by The Atlantic.

Imagine how long ago that was. Yet some things have not changed.

Ironically, ours is a country shaped in the American image. But we have not really developed our own culture and identity due to the lack of nationalist fervor in our hearts. The result is that we have not really reached our full potential as a nation. Do we even try?

As this continues, I have no doubt more and more Filipinos will continue to pack their bags to find that proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – elsewhere in distant lands and sadly, not anywhere within the red, white, and blue, and the three stars and the sun.

Iris Gonzales’ email address is [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at eyesgonzales.com