Gonzales, Aira Jane P.

Citizenship Nationalism and Nation Building

“Sino ka bilang isang Pilipino?” This has been the most formulaic theme that my
elementary Filipino teachers would usually use for our formal writing. But as a Filipino
woman who is born and raised inside a Filipino community and was meticulously
immersed with the culture, it never became a problem and a burden. It became one of
my most preferred matters of argument where I can easily articulate and synthesize my
personal thoughts and experiences as a Filipino. It was easy then. I can proudly boast
about being “morena”, having a round- tipped nose and the long jet-black hair that
everyone else is obsessing about. It was the safest and most superficial response but it
was enough to suffice the interest of my teacher and everyone else. It was simple and
inadequate but for some, it is already more than enough of what is being asked. It was
more than enough to justify your belongingness. Your physical attribute is already
sufficient to define your community. “You are a Filipino! You belong here!”

Nationalism is no longer perceived as deep and horizontal comradeship. It is no

longer composed of imagined community where exploitation and inequality no longer
prevail. The Filipino nationhood is on the verge of crumbling into small pieces. It already
failed into molding a nation where people are perceived as organic whole and there is a
unified thought of belongingness. In the absence of a shared narrative of collective
emancipation that ties our personal life to the center of nationhood, we find it difficult to
locate ourselves in the nation where authenticity and originality is also at little value. As a
result, nation building remains a difficult task stretching its way to the future.

Citizens and government should be projected as mutually dependent partners

(Mulder,1996) that should work hand in hand to attain a good society. We should all stop
on the excessive emphasis on the individual failures and irregularities of the past
administrations of this country. We should stop treating politics and government as a sport
where we simply cheer and condemn, while the politicians do the entertainment. The
problem that we have on this country is not to be solved be restructuring or even re-
inventing our government. It is to reinvent our values and approach to politics and
governance. It would be more effective if we could once again trust our own set of values
and culture that could run the Philippine society. This is the time for us to turn away to the
perceived weakness of our culture as compared to the culture of the other countries. This
Gonzales, Aira Jane P. Citizenship Nationalism and Nation Building

is the perfect time for all of us to stop indulging ourselves to self-flagellation and
Philippine-bashing. Truly, kaya natin ito if we were just trying to escape from
differentiation and complexity and move forward to overcoming ourselves as the
deserving citizen of this nation. (Mulder,1996)
Gonzales, Aira Jane P. Citizenship Nationalism and Nation Building

REFERENCES

Mulder, Niels. “‘This God-Forsaken Country’: Filipino Images of the Nation.” Asian Forms

of the Nation. Ed. Stein Tønnesson and Hans Antlöv. London: Routledge Curzon,

1996. 181-204. Print.