Independence Day

Is the Philippines truly an independent sovereign nation today?

Every year since 1898, under President Emilio Aguinaldo and in 1962, when President Diosdado Macapagal changed the date of our Independence Day from 4 July to 12 June, we have ceremoniously observed the date with the usual marches, fluttering flags, military displays, and feel-good speeches.

But for 127 years up to the present the commemoration has always been filled with unhealed historical and residual unsettled memories of a nation colonized by Spain, Britain, America and Japan.

Today, the yearly ritual seems more a symbolic pageant than a genuine reflection of our economic and military independence as we rely heavily on the steady OFW remittances and the EDCA protection of our former American colonizer against a potential threat from its perceived enemy.

But we are not alone in this. As the reality of today’s interconnected global economy is recognized, no country can truly claim full independence as every nation relies on other nations for economic, cultural, trade, and military alliances, with the more familiar organizations such as WTO, IMF, WB, EU, NATO, ASEAN, G7, G20, BRICS and other associations grouped together for economic and military protection under unified treaties and policies.

The whole world has become one global village and Donne’s devotional verse, “no man is an island,” simply emphasizes the fact that no country is completely independent.

This interdependence is aptly described in the Tagalog proverb, “sakit ng kalingkingan ramdam ng buong katawan” (pain in the pinky is felt by the whole body). In global terms, the failure of a country is a failure of all countries in today’s highly connected world.

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All countries, the Philippines included, celebrate their own Independence Day as a recollection and symbol of historical struggles to gain freedom or emancipation from conquerors but the population, especially the youth, may be disconnected from the significance of such holidays as they are too engaged in more esoteric activities such as YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media platforms.

According to social scientists, the youth today want to be left alone to figure out their life’s meaning and dreams.

We may have to reconfigure and rethink the traditional way of celebrating Independence Day to engage the youth, the hope of the Fatherland.

Remembering and honoring the struggles and sacrifices of our heroes as role models to emulate like Lapu Lapu, Andres Bonifacio, Jose Rizal, and many more may be necessary to remind us of the heroic sacrifices of our forefathers to gain independence from colonizers.

It is almost an oxymoron to celebrate Independence Day when most young people are practically enslaved by their gadgets and their favorite social media pastime. More importantly, and sadly, they seem to have lost the connection between the present and the distant past, thus making the grand celebration empty and meaningless.

Freedom is taken for granted as vaudeville politics depreciates the significance of our cherished liberty bequeathed to us through the blood of our heroes.

Freedom as a nation and people is considered less a value compared to the almost absolute personal and individual liberty given by the digital universe where geographical boundaries, national identities, ethnicities, and other classifications considered normal in a bygone era are now totally disregarded.

Perhaps we need to revisit, reevaluate, and revise our educational system to refresh the value of our personal and collective liberty, rekindle the passion of our emancipation, rediscover the greatness of our heroes, and reappropriate our communal identity as freedom-loving Filipinos united by one flag, one dream and one solid identity as a proud people and nation.