Ken Cedric Y Rodil

11 – ABM A

WORDS OF A NATIONALIST

What is Nationalism?

If you search the internet this it what it says.

Nationalism is an ideology that emphasize loyalty, devotion, or allegiance to a nation or nation-state

and hold that such obligations outweigh other individual or group interests.

Not to be confused with Patriotism, Nationalism is a political ideology that swear loyalty to a certain
group of people and believes that your nation alone sits atop the hierarchy of all other nations while
Patriotism is loyalty to the state or nation and everyone in it, or to put simply love for the nation only
with no extreme ideology attached to it.

Also, Nationalism is not to be confused with Fascism. Although the two are somewhat similar, the
difference is that Fascism is an extreme form of Nationalism and Fascism uses Nationalism as its
roots.

Why is Nationalism important in the Philippines

Nationalism is important to the Philippines if we look back in our country’s History

Our country was born from the idea of Nationalism, from the days of the Katipunan, to the 2022
presidential elections.

Our first days of the idea of Nationalism started when our National hero, Jose Protasio Rizal Mercado
Y Alonso Realonda or Jose Rizal, decided to inspire the Filipino people that the Philippines should be
free from the tyranny of our Spanish colonial oppressors and because of his words Andres Bonifacio
decided to take our independence from Spain through the revolution.

Even after their deaths, Jose Rizal and Andres Bonifacio where later declared as Martyrs, National
heroes, and living incarnation of Filipino Nationalism.

Although you could say Lapu-Lapu was the first Philippine national hero, it was Jose Rizal who first
gave the idea of Nationalism in a national scale cause back before the Spanish colonized us, we
were but a bunch of separate tribes who fought for their own interest and because of this disunity in
which I base on is why I cannot safely say if Lapu-Lapu is one of the people who inspired nationalism
throughout the whole country.

Moving past the Spanish colonial period and into the Philippine-American war, here was our first of a
unified Nationalistic war against a foreign invader as an independent nation.

If the revolution was a bunch of different factions fighting against a foreign tyranny, the Philippine-
American war was the test of our strength, cooperation, and unity as a nation and a people.
One man saw the vision of a unified Philippines under one flag and one Republican army. Disciplined
and admired by the Filipino people today, he is General Antonio Luna. General Luna today is
considered as one of the most skilled Generals in Philippines history. Throughout the Philippine-
American war General Antonio Luna inspired many Filipinos to fight against the Americans and this
fact was made clear by the moral of his troops and the lost of moral when he was assassinated.

Nationalism in the Modern Philippines

Nationalism in the Philippine’s Modern age is a bit of controversial topic because some confused this
for being a bit to Radical. People on the Left in the political compass in the Philippines, whether it
would be the Dilawans of the Liberal party to the communist terrorist, sometime mistakes simple
Nationalism, or even Patriotism, as a form of Fascism.

I would like to add right-wing groups but through my research I could not find any in the Philippines.
The closest thing to being Right-wing were both, in my view, Ferdinad E Marcos and Rodrigo
Duterte’s presidentcy. Ferdinand E Marcos and Duterte were both classified as Authoritarian strong
men by the world and are seen as the Far-right factions in the Philippines even though both
presidents shows leftist policies or actions.

My opinion on Nationalism

I support Filipino Nationalism, this was one of the main building block of our nation it is what we were
born out of and without it we would not exist today.

There are those who wish to see our country separate from Nationalism, these groups seek to
destroy the very foundation of our country and its people. I am talking about the NPA, NDF, and other
left leaning groups along with their destructive agenda.

We Filipinos must unite again under one Flag, One Nation, and One people like how our ancestors
before would have wanted.

Only us Filipinos can see and achieve this dream unlike anyone else, but because of crab mentality
and Jealousy keeping us down makes this dream far away from reach.

So I tell you now Brothers and Sisters will you rally once again under our nations banner for a better
future?