The Hypocrisy of the "Sariling Atin Only" Mentality

Nothing is wrong with asking for nationalism. Nothing is wrong with desiring your country to be free from foreign control. The Americans went against the British to free their country. Going against the Spaniards was a result of the abuses done by the Spanish Empire. What is wrong is when we take it to the wrong direction. The problem is nationalism gone wrong or ultranationalism. Any decent-minded Pinoy rejects the folly of Pinoy Pride and chooses to do what it takes to become a positive Pinoy. Pinoy Pride can teach the wrong value of "sariling atin only" or "our very own only" mentality. I would like to discuss why this mentality is hypocritical.

Way back in elementary having been to a FLIPFAG school, I remembered how the supposed "Values Education" classes taught a warped view of nationalism. It was taught that people should buy only local products and not imported products. One script that got the highest grade was when a person deliberately threw away a Chip's Ahoy cookie calling it "gross" and eating a Filipino cookie instead. It was a waste of good cookies though I'll admit, both have their own charm. What was included was the "Buwan Ng Wika" or "Month of the Language" programs were not even good. One segment included a part where people were burning the French flag. Another dramatized the Flor Contemplacion Story. For one, these people refuse to differentiate colonial mentality from liking foreign stuff.

Now I would admit there are good Filipino products, no questions asked. Bongbong's Piaya is a tourist booster in the Philippines and it brings quality export products. You can get quality music from some Filipino artists. Some Filipino restaurants are famous with tourists like Tsiboom's, Pino's and Golden Cowrie. However the "sariling atin only" mentality is as stupid as colonial mentality. Both views embrace the garbage on both sides as "good". A colonial mentality person absorbs everything that is foreign as good even when it's bad. He/she might eat in a dirty eatery owned by a Bangladeshi over a decent eatery owned by a Pinoy. On the other hand, an ultranationalist accepts everything from his/her own country even when it's bad. He/she might eat in a dirty eatery owned by a Pinoy over a decent eatery owned by a Japanese. Both values are just bad as the other.

What's hypocritical is that these "sariling atin only" sponsors are actually using FOREIGN products. Watch every Failipino activist rally - they are wearing imported clothes (ex. Levi's Jeans) or at least clothes that were a result of foreign influence, use imported equipment and then after they are tired, you might see them eating at KFC or McDonald's. It might also be best to talk about the hypocrisy of Bobo Muna too. Toady Casino for instance has his ultranationalism yet he is still wearing western style clothes, he is living in a Western style house, he still uses Western equipment to promote Pinoy Pride and he even has a Facebook page. I should also mention that if it wasn't for foreign influence, crappy Failipino songs and movies would not exist in the first place. Just think while these protectionist butthurts are crying foul for colonial mentality, they are actually using IMPORTED equipment. Television, video cameras, computers, recorders, CDs, etc. are of WESTERN INFLUENCE. Later these stuff are no longer restricted to just East/West. Buy a Filipino music CD, it also got sponsored by a foreign company like Sony Records. Sony may form joint ventures everywhere but you cannot deny it still has something foreign.

When you try to look at the Philippines, it's born out of FOREIGN INFLUENCE. The name Philip is Greek, the country was named after King Philip I of IMPERIAL SPAIN. The Spaniards made Manila the capital of the Philippines. The Philippines was born out of foreign influence. Also, before Spanish colonization it already traded with the Chinese, Arabs and other races which had practically "tainted" the natives with foreign influence. After the Spaniards were kicked out with help of the Americans, later on Imperial Japan took over it. After the fall of Imperial Japan and the rise of Modern Japan, America took over it for ten years. After the Commonwealth on July 4, 1946, the contemporary Philippines existed. In short, the Philippines is born out of foreign influence. All I can say is if these ultranationalists hate foreign influence, they should go back to the stone age.