How Is Being A Filipino A Process Of Becoming?

           Taken literally, a Filipino is a citizen of Philippines categorized with unique distinctions from other neighboring countries.

           Categories ranging from the skin color, values and dispositions. However, identifying a Filipino is more analytical and a complicated thing to do. In fact, it's never ending. According to Shahram Heshmat, Ph.D., in his article 'Basics of Identity', identity is never 'final' and continues to develop through the lifespan. Hence, an identity is more than just a label. Although at its simplest, it is, when one classifies himself according to gender, economic class, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexuality. Furthermore, a Filipino's identity expansion starts from meanings and meanings produced imaginations. Imaginations are reflections of the objective reality with a touch of common sense and connotations, thus making it the subjective reality of a person.

        Now, how is being a Filipino a process of becoming? Immediate environment. It all accounts to one's immediate surroundings bordering the horizons of the Philippines. Zooming in and tracing back, at birth, every thing around the proximity of an infant, in his peripheral view, was registered effectively to his subconsciousness. Growing up, that person's perspective then, circles around the circulation of  language, culture and power.

            To begin with, language is the source of knowledge. According to Imam Ali, "Knowledge is power and it can command obedience. A man of knowledge during his lifetime can make people obey and follow him and he is praised and venerated after his death. Remember that knowledge is a ruler and wealth is its subject.", Indeed, knowledge holds supremacy given the language as a system of representation, means of communication, a critical ingredient to understanding and is essential to life survival. To instantiate this is about a government politician of high position gave a statement with statistically analyzed and interpreted proof and used Fear as the persuasiom technique to grasp people's attention in addition to the given hold he had as a high-ranking official, thus, he had that power to make people believe his statement which solidifies it as the truth. So, with that being plated, an immediate call to action with accordance to the plan would cause little to no ruckus despite the hesitations of the minority to the 'truth' played by the media. Hence, knowledge with language as its ultimate foundation grants power, and knowledge with power encompasses the proclaimed 'truth'.

           Moreover, that power doesn't stand as it is. Power is also correlated with the culture. Quoting James Arthur Baldwin's, words, "Culture is the long and painful history of the people." and power is superiority over people inside the grid. And to rule the people, one must know the culture and take it to heart. When people's hearts, not all but most, are wrapped around his finger, only then he can be powerful. For example, Duterte's administration, he is a powerful president not because he holds that position. He is powerful because he takes the long and painful history his fellow Filipino citizens to heart and is actually braving himself to do something about it, resulting from good to worst consequences. With the current situation the Philippines is facing it became a high time for Filipino values to prevail and be used to ignite the feeling of utter disagreement or support and it is a matter of factly sometimes exaggerated. Culture is also a socially transmitted intra-generationally generated ideas on how to live and make judgements. Informations system of ideas ranging from broad to micro-information. Which all goes down to story-telling. The more it got shared, the more exaggerated the meaning gets. Borderline, if you don't know even just a little of that story, you feel the absence of belongingness.

           Lastly, shared meanings also transmits individual connotations. Thus, language has got something to do with the surrounding culture. Meanings are shared through symbolisms within a society or at a certain place and time. As per Samuel Kronen's words, culture is the key to understanding the complex interaction between humans. For example, for Christians, there are Fiestas around every town and city to celebrate in honor of the Saints as the patron of each town and city. Non-christian from other countries would have a hard time fully grasping the idea why such a celebration exists, more so understanding it because they are not well-accustomed with our long-running culture. But still, as it stands, culture, no matter where it come from and whoever practices it, is respected and not to be questioned.

            In conclusion, the process of becoming a Filipino is being a Filipino diving through and adapting to the influece of the immediate environment around the scope and limitations of the Philippines. The influence that lives only in the mind ---the language, culture and power--- all inside our subjective reality. All of which cannot be seen nor touch, intangible, and yet it holds the capacity to govern and control the realtime various physicalities such as humans, animals, government and non-government  infrastractures, the cause of realtime problems and solutions and the prime foundation of structured ways of obtaining peace and order. A nation is an imagined living organization, therefore, being a Filipino is also an imagined identity.

RHIAMIE SANTOS RATUNIL, 2019