What does it mean to be Filipino? Is it our taste for strong, flavorful cuisine? Is it our obsession with playing basketball, even while wearing flip flops?
Or is it that strong sense of pride that we often feel when we see fellow Filipinos in the international spotlight? Maybe it's something much deeper than that. Maybe it's because we all share a mother tongue? Although, we don't really have one, since there are over 170 unique Philippine languages. Some say it's the color of our skin, though that can't be it either, since Filipinos...
come in many different shades and skin tones. It used to be because we were all from the same archipelago. But now, there are millions of Filipinos scattered all throughout the world, one of the largest recorded diaspora in history. If we really want to find out what it means to be Filipino, then we have to go back, way back to the story of one of our first ancestors called the Austronesians. They were a group of people that used the oceans and the seas like wide open roads at a time when other cultures were still inventing the wheel.
Over 5,000 years ago, the Austronesians possessed advanced sailing technology that allowed them to explore and discover many different lands, one of them being the archipelago that would later become the Philippines. Eventually, they developed boats called balangays, which they used to explore the rivers and coastlines of these newfound islands. Within the boats, early Filipinos worked together as a community in order to make their daring journeys possible. From navigation, fishing, rowing, and steering, each person did their best to contribute to the journey in whatever way they could, because they were literally all in the same boat, and by caring for one another, they survived.
and thrived. This strong sense of togetherness took root at the core of Philippine culture, which is why we still call a small community in the Philippines a barangay today, named after the Balangay boats of our ancestors that represented cooperation and collaboration. This idea of extending a helping hand to our neighbor in any possible way became known as Bayanihan from the Filipino word bayani, which means hero. And examples of the Bayanihan spirit can be seen all throughout Philippine history.
From tragic wars, natural disasters, and other calamities that the country has faced, it's the Bayanihan spirit that Filipinos have counted on to keep them going. Filipinos being heroes to one another, to help their brothers and sisters in their community, expecting nothing in return. Today, the Bayanihan spirit lives on, expressed in many unique ways by modern Filipinos in the archipelago, as well as in distant foreign shores. Why do you think so many Filipinos want a job that involves helping others?
Or that we are known as one of the most hospitable cultures on the planet? Or that Christmas season, a time of sharing and giving, lasts for four months in the Philippines? It's because deep within every Filipino, no matter how far we may be from our homeland, the flames of our past forge the Bayanihan spirit into our hearts.
And that's what we carry with us, no matter where we are. So to answer the question, what does it mean to be Filipino? Well, if we look at our history, I guess you could say that being Filipino means to care, to share, and to love. To love your family, your neighbor, and your community.
Because at the end of the day, no matter where we are in the world, we are one people, on the same journey, on the same boat.