Blonde and Blue Eyes
Patricia Chanco Evangelista
1 When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino
children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and
white. I thought—if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up
on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!
More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have
sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in
the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of "greener
pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino Diaspora.
Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.
2 There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who
choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was
left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding
year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought
for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle
against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that
identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.
3 Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True,
there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the
other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a
borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is
now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I
call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of
cultures.
4 Each square mile anywhere in the world is made
up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual
personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the
world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my
neighborhood back home.
5 Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any
sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must
be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying
mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship.
6 But we shall make it, given more time.
Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from
college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them
all.
7 A borderless world presents a bigger
opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of
identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who
support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million
seafarers manning most of The world s commercial ships. We are your software
engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your
doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's
West End.
8 Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People
from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially
who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation,
a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a
borderless world!
9 Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's
coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth,
but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people
like these balik-bayans or the 'returnees'—those who followed their dream, yet
choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.
10 In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever
opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't
preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't
about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the
country that shaped me. And that's going to be more important to me than seeing
snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.
(2004)
Meet
the Writer
Patricia
Chanco Evangelista
is a debater, TV show host, columnist, segment producer, product endorser and
leader. As a 19 year-old student, she became the first Filipina to win the the
Best Speaker award in the International Public Speaking Competition - an annual
contest sponsored by the English-Speaking Union held in London. Her speech
entitled Blonde and Blue Eyes, for the theme Borderless World, bested 59
contestants from 37 countries.
Evangelista
finished high school at St. Theresa's College, Quezon City. Evangelista
graduated as a BA Speech Communication major in the University of the
Philippines, Diliman in 2006. She is an alumna of the UP Debate Society
(UPDEBSOC).
Evangelista became
a host in Breakfast Supersized, Tara Na Pinoy and Y Speak Live. She later
replaced Anne Torres to host ABC-5's DOKYU. She became a product endorser for
Lipton Iced Tea.
Her column Rebel
Without A Clue appears every Sunday in the Philippine Daily Inquirer's Opinion
Section. She used to have a column called Crazed in the Philippine Star.
Evangelista also teaches Creative Writing at Saint Paul College, Pasig.
She is also a
writer/host/segment producer for Living Asia Channel and for Media Focus, a
talk show on media affairs hosted by Cheche Lazaro. In addition, she writes for
the history talk show The Explainer hosted by Manolo Quezon and a consultant
for debate show Square off.
She serves as the
National Youth Spokesperson for Operation Smile and a volunteer writer for
Gawad Kalinga. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Evangelista)
0 comments