16 July 2005
Langfia Ayeona
Mountain Province
Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), Philippines
Dear Ayeona,
I visited your photographs in flickr.com and in your other website several times already.
What made your photos even more appealing to me were the words that came with the pictures. They stopped being just a set of pictures to admire, but a poignant story of a people in a community.
Most people in the world will never ever have a chance to visit your place but through your photos and words those who are sensitive at heart cannot help but be moved. A spiritual kinship develops. Even if it were only in the mind, the common bond that ties is the day-to-day struggle of mankind. What only changes are the colors of the skin, the places and the time. Underneath it all is man's quest, his eternal search for "the good, noble, beautiful and true".
As a Filipino therefore, it is the perspective that you conveyed quite well — through photos and words — that I wish other peoples of the world come to know us.
Instead, what I read and watch, if ever the Philippines comes into spotlight in the Western world, are flitting snapshots of natural calamities and madmade disasters, of the latest bombings, beheadings, kidnappings, insurgencies, etc.
The only positive moments that I remember of our country as told in Western press, were the "people power" revolutions that toppled two of our Presidents out of power. Of these two, only the first, the downfall of former President Ferdinand Marcos, without any bloodshed, captured the world.
The latest news, for example, was about the fire that razed a slum dwelling in MetroManila; included was a photo of a boy wallowing in grime up to above his breast, above his head was a piece of galvanized iron he salvaged. While I see the innocent heroism there, it brought back memories when I was in high school in Manila.
Still quite young and naive then, coming from a small town in Cagayan valley, the city both fascinated and depressed me. In time, when I came to know the city better, it became a second home.
Once, I was roaming the streets during one of my solitary weekend adventures in the city, I saw two Caucasian photographers taking pictures of a trash bin in a corner street along Claro M. Recto. Somehow I thought they were journalists, rather than ordinary tourists, with the things they carried. I followed them from a distance, for awhile, to observe what they would do next. But that was that.
Young as I was then, I was infuriated by the incident. It is just like inviting someone into your home, and rather than focusing on your hospitality, all they want to see is your dirt.
Here was Manila then — a bustling and vibrant city, full of its own hidden promises and beauty if one looked deeper; but all that took their fancy was the trash.
Being an avid newspaper reader, I was aware already at that time, about how we were portrayed in other countries, about the neverending stories concerning the "smokey mountain" and the slums of Manila *. It seems to be a perennial focus. Only now, the Western press is preoccupied also with the role of the Philippines in this grand war on terrorism.
One of my dreams therefore, for a long time now, is to counter these misrepresentations, sometimes deliberately misleading in what is not revealed, of us as a people and of our country.
This will involve telling our own stories, through pictures and words, through our arts, literary works and other creations — to capture the essence of Philippines and Filipinos, today.
My role model of such effort is that of the Jewish people. They are undoubtedly always a minority in many Western countries; but, what they have is a deep sense of community and kinship, and deep awareness of their history. As a result, they have presence in almost every field of endeavor — science, medicine, technology, literature, arts, business, film, and more — so that their point of view dominate in Western culture. The consequence is that they wield a disproportionate clout (relative to their number) not only in the political arena but also in the socio-cultural milieu.
Here in the United States, for example, they always talk these days, about Judeo-Christian tradition that is the foundation of the country, and must be upheld. This clamor conveniently forget that even after World War II, many Jewish refugees who survived the holocaust were not always welcomed in many western countries. Even many decades after, they have been discriminated upon, even in such bastions of higher education, like Harvard. But they persevered, as individuals and as a people, as they have over the centuries. Their persistence paid off, so successfully that no government in the western world today is likely to survive if they are too critical of Israel.
The clamor for Judeo-Christian tradition to become the foundation of the country is also doubly ironic because those who espouse this conveniently forgot about the culture and traditions of native Americans who were here for thousands of years before any Westerners were ever around, before their numbers were decimated to almost extinction. Morever, at present the combined population of African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics now constitute almost half of the US population and will become the dominant population in a few more years. In fact, in most of the urban areas of the United States today, the combined population of these ethnic groups constitute the majority.
However, rather than be jealous of the achievements and clout of the Jewish people, there is no reason why we cannot emulate their efforts. What the Jewish people have shown is that it is never about how many you are that matters. It is about having a vision and a dream, working hard for what you believe in and being united with those who feel the same.
It is in this spirit that I wish to invite you, to become part of a dream, and to help make this dream a reality.
It will take a band of Filipinos to achieve such a dream. Filipinos who capture the soul of their own people and the community where they live. And, if you know other Filipinos who have the same sensibilities and dreams, please do consider inviting them into this effort.
Together, let us relate our story, of the Philippines and the Filipino people, from the perspective mainly of Filipinos. Because before we can even begin to tell the world who we are, we must understand ourselves what it truly means to be Filipino. It is only then that we may discover ourselves as a people, find the common bond that eluded us, as a nation.
It is a dream that may never be realized during our lifetime but this prospect should not dismay us nor deter us from acting. Again, I point back for inspiration the fate of the Jewish people, who were stateless for a millenium. And look what they how far they have gone.
In our case, as a nation and as a people, however far we might go, whatever the outcome may be, the most important thing to remember always is the dream and the faith that someday, it will be a reality.
A journey begins with the first step. Come then, take it with me.
Sincerely,
Cornelio