Recently, a former manager of mine sent me and some other friends an email sharing the good news that his family has moved to a new home and that they have become U.S. citizens. I responded to that email, still copying the whole gang, with my congratulations as well as sharing some of my own good news that I have also just bought a house and will be going for my Naturalization interview soon. I even joked that despite not being my manager anymore, I am still following his footsteps.

One of the people on copy of this email thread then sent a strange message. He said that he congratulates us half-heartedly because we met our accomplishments here in the States. He ends his email with this sentence: "If we are to dream of nation-building, we should free ourselves from the bondage of selfishness."

WTF? Although he did send another email later on apologizing and saying he might have given us the wrong impression (and by that point I'm not really sure what the right impression is), I can't help but get miffed with this response. Especially since it came from a person who has repeatedly tried to get a job here in our Corporate Headquarters in the U.S. and have even asked my help in doing so. What a hypocrite! How dare you accuse me of turning my back on my homeland, the Philippines, just because I have chosen to become an American citizen! By the way, I will be opting to have dual citizenship, because the Philippines has passed a law allowing this. I honestly told them that I am getting an American citizenship to avoid the hassles of entering different countries with a Philippine passport, and to not have to secure a visa for some countries I plan to visit in the future. If anything, America should accuse me of using her for convenience's sake.

I, like many Filipinos living here in the States, still contribute to the Philippine economy by regularly sending money back home to my family, money that I would never have earned if I stayed in the Philippines. I find that I have learned to love her more after I moved away, another sentiment that many Filipinos abroad share. I, who used to never get caught in a cinema showing Filipino movies back then, now seek and devour Filipino VCD's, or any magazine from back home. I go to Jollibee every chance I get not just because they have great chicken but because it reminds me of home. Home. What a strange word. I now consider San Jose as my home, but I proudly call the Philippines home without batting an eyelash. I didn't forsake her. I didn't leave her. She will always be in the sinews of my being.

Vangie Fuhrman got cold on 11.22.2004 6:24 PM. |