The Filipino Spirit and Adversity

Vitavi denique culpam, non laudem merui. ~ Horace
I do not deserve any praise just because I have avoided fault or avoided making a mistake. In the same way, doing an act of courage and bravery does not make me a hero when I just did the only option available to me. Is virtue then its own reward? 

My thoughts are still with the victims of Yolanda. My heart still bleeds for them and at the utter devastation they have gone through. They are slowly starting to rebuild and to put back their lives together. There has been a tremendous outpouring of compassion, help and assistance for them. The world is being amazed once more by the resilience and sturdiness of the indomitable Filipino spirit. But we have no choice. So are we heroes? We are only doing what is expected after a calamity. Do we deserve all the praises being heaped upon us?

We do. We are a nation of heroes. A Filipino will never be tied down by any lack of options. In the face of scarcity, the Filipino will make do. It takes so little to keep us alive and happy. Where there is not enough food, it is extended and shared with everyone. There will always be those who would be willing to go hungry so others may eat. The overflow and sharing of food during the EDSA I Revolution was nothing special. It is the natural way Filipino do things. It is happening again in the Visayas in the aftermath of Yolanda. 

In the face of utter lack, the Filipino still can do. Stories abound of our ‘abilidad‘ or ingenuity, finding workable substitutes where parts are lacking or when ingredients are missing. When jobs cannot be found at home, Filipinos go abroad to find the means to support and feed their families. And it is true heroism when those who have gone abroad send the better part of their earnings back home to their loved ones. 

And in the face of all difficulties and adversity is the Filipino smile that cannot be extinguished, the irrepressible humor that refuses to be dimmed, the inevitable laughter even in the face of extreme adversity. The Filipino spirit refuses to be tied down. We Filipinos love life too much to be distracted by storms, typhoons, earthquakes and even imbecile leaders.

In the immortal words of Fr. Horatio de la Costa:
“These are the bonds that bind us together; these are the soul that makes us one. And as long as there remains in these islands one mother to sing Nena’s Lullaby, one boat to put out to sea with the immemorial rowing song, one priest to stand at the altar and offer God to God, this nation may be conquered, trampled upon, enslaved, but it cannot perish. Like the sun that dies every evening, it will rise again from the dead.”   

“Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!'”
Luke 17:7-10