Pinoy Youth

The National Heroes’ Day came and went on August 31. Is the sense of heroism still alive among the Filipino youth?

The Manila Times Editorial didn’t think so. But perhaps, the lament is not only directed to the youth but to the overall Filipino society:

“It is not just the youth, though.The majority of Filipinos in every generation—young and old—do not have the proper sense of history, no thirst for knowledge about our heroes and the conditions they labored in, no wish to learn what the Filipinos of earlier generations did to survive and develop, what amused them, what made them weep, what gave them joy.”

Let’s break down these accusations and try to address them one by one.

No Proper Sense of History. Filipinos, in general, do not have a strong sense of history. This can be seen in the way that the voters keep on electing people accused of wrongdoing against the Filipino society in the past. In this time and age of globalization and increasing online connectivity, most young people become interested in computers, fashion and gadgets.

Bantayog ng mga Bayani

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The people of Iran are going through their own version of people power. With the disputed presidential elections in Iran, young people and women support the opposition amid arrests of journalists and other social activists. According to NY Times, this is the most sustained challenge to the Iranian government since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

There were, however, growing signs of divisions within the alliance united behind Mr. Ahmadinejad. Members of Parliament upset with the brutality of the government crackdown summoned the interior, justice and intelligence ministers to a hearing.

“I don’t think anyone really knows what comes next,” said an Iranian political analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution by the government. “Most likely, we are going to enter a period of relative uncertainly, with ebbs and flows, until the Islamic Republic of Iran is altered or finds a new avenue for legitimacy.”

Interestingly, about 70% of Iran’s population are under the age of 30.

I have been reading the commentary about the news at NY Times, reading the take of some Iranian, American and Islamic scholars about the Iranian situation. According to Hamid Dabashi,

If you were to follow youth culture in Iran at the turn of the century — from the rise of a fascinating underground music (particularly rap) to a globally celebrated cinema, an astonishing panorama of contemporary art, video installations, photography, etc. — you would have noted the oscillation of this generation between apathy and anger, frustration and hope, disillusion and euphoria. In their minds and souls, as in their blogs and chat rooms, they were wired to the globalized world, and yet in their growing bodies and narrowing social restrictions trapped inside an Islamic version of Calvinist Geneva. Read the full story at NY Times.

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Father’s Day came and went. I spent the day at church where the congregation honored the fathers among our midst. Since my own dad was at the pulpit, I didn’t get to greet him and honor him there. In the afternoon, we just went to Jay-J’s Inasal at SM Fairview and had a good dinner!

Speaking of Father’s Day, when I checked my Facebook account earlier today, I came across this shared link from my friend Roy dealing with Men who Mother. In previous years, such a concept would be unthinkable! Any person doing “womanly” chores would be called “Andres de Saya” and would lose the respect of his male peers. But with the OFW phenomenon raging wildly in the Philippines and as “female mothers” go abroad to work, fathers are left with their kids. They have to be mothers as well as fathers.

Here’s an excerpt of Michael Tan’s article in the Inquirer.

In the Philippines, men talk about being breadwinners although in practice, women are taking up more and more of this burden. Men are also associated with discipline although again in practice, Filipino men can be quite nurturing, at least in terms of “entertaining” children.

I drew up a list of “mothering” duties here that men tend to avoid and there’s a clear pattern: they tend to be activities that are often called “menial,” not the most exciting, yet requiring so much time and patience.

The roles are often embedded in a rather complicated cultural matrix, complete with contradictions. For example, we’re always warning our women not to carry anything heavy because their uterus will fall (mahuhulog ang matris). That’s actually a medical myth, but many people will swear it’s true. Yet, notice how our women will avoid carrying a box weighing maybe 5 kilos, but will not think twice about carrying her child, who may be 15 kilos, sometimes even more.
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These roles are changing, mainly because more women are now in the labor force, many deployed away from home or overseas. But even here, the norms change slowly. A woman who leaves to work abroad will often entrust her children to a woman relative.

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The past two weeks had been extremely busy! I felt like I was chasing after so many deadlines and this week was full of troubleshooting. At least, I’ve had moments of joy and enjoyment and fun although I was also worried and anxious most days of the week. 

I attended two youth summer camps since last weekend. The Good Samaritan United Methodist youth held their summer camp at the Green Farm Resort, Ligas, Malolos City, Bulacan. It was about 1 kilometer away from the Sta. Rita exit of the North Luzon Expressway. The place was… hmmm what could I say… green! The paint of the place was green, vines (natural ones) crawled the function halls and they were all over the place. I had 5 members in my Bible Study session so we fit perfectly in one of the huts near the function hall. 

How I wished I brought extra shorts–the swimming pool was great and inviting. Too bad, I didn’t! Instead of swimming I just had a good chat with some of the youth of Good Sam. On top of the Bible Study sessions I led, I also participated in the musical presentation of our group. I also became the de facto Mar Roxas in our commercial spoof!! 

I missed participating in such affairs. When I was younger… not that I’m already old (hahah), I almost never missed any summer camp, Christmas institute and youth activities in our church. Apart from the laughters and the fun, I also learned a lot from these youth activities. They surely prepared me for the challenges I am facing now. 

Check out some of the pictures of the Good Samaritan youth camp. More pictures at my multiply site. 

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Ask a young Filipino if he knows someone with a mom or dad abroad and he will tell you a handful of his friends who do. Or his parents might be the ones abroad.

Around 11 million Filipinos are working abroad. This represents around 11%, of the total population of the Philippines, which is now at 89 million.

That’s a lot of people!

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