This is Where I Live

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This is where I live, the Philippines. A land where a lot of people are poor, but happy. A land of people who have a strong faith in God, regardless of their religion. A land full of people who will take care of elderly parents in the comfort of their own homes until the day the die, surrounded by the people they love. A land where it isn't shameful to live in one's parents' house. This is where I live. A land where the government has always been tainted with corruption and controversy. A land where you can't rely on the government to help it's people with social services. A land where the poor become poorer, and the rich and corrupt become more rich and corrupt. This is where I live. A tropical paradise. A land that is dotted with the most beautiful waters and beaches in the world. A land that is culturally rich with it's history going as far back even before America was discovered. A land where because of it's beautiful beaches, greedy landowners throw the indigenous tribes like stray dogs away. A land where it's forests are being denuded, the hard woods delivered to rich countries who ordered these and don't care if the people living in the nearby towns die in the floods. A land where there is natural gas, but is being harvested for a neighboring Asian country who sells it back to the Philippines at three times the price. This is where I live. Where people seem to forget that we are a brown race. That our skin has always been a beautiful brown hue, not the sickly pale tints brought about by drugs and cosmetics. We have our own beautiful dialects, for each corner of our land. But if people hear you speak it, they laugh. Does anyone still know the Alibata? Oh, I forgot, historians and educators trashed this from our curriculum. This is where I live. Where children don't know or appreciate it's rich history and culture. That children will sing rap song and imitate Lady Gaga rather than learn the now extinct music and culture that we have. Or laugh when they see people performing it. How long has it been since I have last seen someone play the kulintang? Or does anyone even know to play the musical instruments made from bamboo? Kids play DOTA. But they don't know the traditional games that was handed down from one generation to another that has now dwindled to nothing because of computers. This is where I live. Where my grandfather was able to find a safe haven from the communists in his mother land. Yes, I am a third generation Chinese. I don't have a province here in the Philippines. But I can trace my roots in China. I can't speak Chinese, but I can understand Bisaya, Bicolano and I am very fluent in Tagalog. And this is where I live. I am a Filipino.