FREE: the National Word of the Philippines

How many words are there in existence?  Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (2005) contains more than 476,000 vocabulary entries. And each word opens an entirely new world in itself. Take the word justice for example, which opens up the complex concept of receiving what one deserves. Or look into words like peace, socialism, or even Noynoying. One can write an entire book just expounding one word.

Recall those quaint little slam books our classmates would pass around, asking our favorite sport, song, or slogan? Well as a people, Filipinos do have their own favorites too as a collective. In this article we look into the national word of the Philippines. Arguably the Filipino’s favorite word would be FREE. Just take a look at how highly valued and deeply ingrained this word is in our entire system and culture:

FREEDOM of expression – Filipinos are loud and simply love to talk. The last thing they would want taken from them is the chance to voice their thoughts. Facebook and mass media are national treasures.

FREEDOM of choice – Filipinos value elections (right of suffrage) so badly, as if the entire world revolves around politics.

FREEDOM from poverty – The Filipino dream has always been to escape the clutches of poverty and live a comfortable life.

FREEDOM from oppression – Filipinos detest any form of foreign power that seeks to lord it over them. Yet they welcome the fact Chinese with Filipino passports give them free air-conditioning in huge Malls they love to spend time around in.

FREE education – Commie/leftist state university students (iskolar ng bayan) expect free education yet seek to bring down the government/administration, the very hands that feed them the gift of knowledge/training on a silver platter.

FREE health care – Filipinos destroy their bodies through their diets and vices all they want, and expect the government to take care of medical expenses to fix them up.

FREE lunch – Filipinos invite themselves to parties and occasions just to get a free meal. Yes there is such a thing as a free lunch – just go to the Philippines.

Freedom and Heroes

Heroism is valued so highly in the Philippines, not because of the concept of sacrifice per se. But rather because of someone else having to make a sacrifice so we can get a certain benefit FOR FREE.

This is why we love naming buildings and roads after heroes. We named our premier international gateway after Ninoy thinking he gave us democracy. We name entire provinces and schools after Rizal thinking he willingly gave up his life at Luneta that day to free us from Spanish rule. Actually Rizal did not want armed revolution, and was wrongly accused for it.

Rizal’s Manifesto to Certain Filipinos

The manifesto, which tried to convince Filipinos to end the revolt, had five points. First, he absolved himself by declaring that he was never a part of the revolution; his name was used to attract Filipinos to join the revolution. Second, he was consulted about the planned revolution but he advised the perpetrators to abandon it. Third, he wanted to stop the rebellion by offering his services to the people. Fourth, he condemned the revolution as ridiculous and barbarous. Fifth, uprising was not an option at that time, that reforms should be the authorities’ initiative, not the citizens’. He made it clear that the people’s education is potent in inducing changes in society.

Freedom from LIES

Although freedom is indeed a word that must be placed high up in the list of things we value, it is still a vast word and concept, and many Filipinos miss the point. We should value a type of freedom more than others. The Author of DNA Code/Information (the ultimate Mind identified in abstraphysics) once said “The Truth shall set you free”.

Filipinos should seek freedom from the lies that have pounded their brains for so long. We’ve been lied to and we lie to ourselves so much these lies have become our reality. As Morpheus said in the Matrix, we need to free our minds. Like a child who once was told by a teacher “you will never amount to anything”, Filipinos should seek to break free from the cycle of perpetuating and living out a lie.

One big lie says you need a teacher and must be enrolled in school to learn. The COVID-19 situation just proved these days that students can actually just learn things on their own online: You’ve got Wikipedia, Youtube, and loads of free training, e-books, tutorials. Peter, James and John were just fishermen, and Andres Bonifacio was just a good reader. Yet they rocked their world back then despite the absence of formal training/education.

Another lie we believe in is that we can’t say NO, and that we are bound to keep repeating the same stupid mistake. If you are addicted to smoking or junk food, then there’s that lie that says you just can’t stop. The truth is – you have the freedom to say NO to anything. Nobody not even your own body can force you. It’s the mind that is over and above natural base instincts and desires.

FREEDOM is a big word. As we celebrate Ninoy Aquino Day this month, let us all reflect on this word, and resonate the call to FREE our main international gateway of that politically charged, biased and divisive Yellow label and progress towards the path of national unity.