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| A child poses in front of a Fil-Am Standee http://www.libotero.com/filam-friendship-day-celebration-ayala-center-cebu/ |
A lot of debates have been going on whether to continue celebrating country-country friendship days. The first of the critics begs to know what is there to celebrate anyway when in celebration we remember the oppressions and the turmoil from the hands of our oppressors, the colonizers. Of all friendship days, the Philippine-America Friendship Day is the most significantly commemorated- note that I used the word commemorate.
I cannot begin to jot down the significance of our continued alliance with the world’s superpower. We’re like those little brown pups ever so loyal to our master who vowed to feed us with imported milk, protect us from stray dogs and tend for us affectionately. Pups grow and their masters grow. Have we been too dependent on our master that we have forgotten that we have the capacity to grow and mature on our own, too?
America was there. Always. Maybe we should just forget the whole oppressive 44 years. After all, America was always there. Maybe we should just be complacent and keep America happy. America will always be there.
Could there be any more manifestation of post-colonialism than how Western Philippines is? Physically and by declaration, we are an independent sovereign state. Politically, we are indebted. Economically, we are skating on thin ice. Emotionally, we found ourselves still very attached to our closes colonizer, America. Homi Bhaba’s Location of Culture (1994) focuses on the politics, emotions, and values that exist in the between the colonizer and the colonized. Cultures are more than 'us' and 'other'. They are the sum of their histories. Bhabha likes to use the word 'hybrid', meaning composed of mixed elements, to describe post-colonial people and experiences.
We cannot help but tag ourselves with our colonizers. The Spaniards have left so much influence in our culture. The Americans heavily influenced our education which proved to be a powerful tool in keeping your colonies.
Despite of all the identity-confusion and poor-puppy analogy, I would vote for the status quo and celebrate Phil-Am Friendship Day. One, because there is so much to commemorate and celebrate for between both countries. Two, it would be very strategic on our part to keep America on our side with the brewing tensions in China. Everyone needs a friend on that. And lastly, this is the 21st century. This is the era of globalization, fluidity and borderlessness. People and cultural diplomacy is as important as Foreign Service Diplomats.
Everyone needs a friend.
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