Filipino-American

by Kristin Cobbs

Being a Filipino-American is incredible. Filipinos are full of culture, history, and love for
their country. Here in America, some people are never proud of their roots and culture.
They do not think about where they come from and their “homeland”. I always hear my
mom and other parents refer to going to the Philippines as “going back home”. Even I, at
school and other places say “I’m going back home” when going to the Philippines. It is
our way of showing where we belong, our true home, the Philippines. Filipinos always
show their love for the Philippines by sending money home and caring about their
relatives. They work very hard, sometimes even all night, to have money to send home to
everyone every month. Even when they know their family here in America needs the
money too, they still work hard to save enough to send home all the time. Some families
in the Philippines become very dependent upon their siblings in America, but that does
not stop Filipino-Americans from helping them. Their love for their family outshines any
greed for money. Always worried if their family has enough food and clothes there, that
when visiting they bring all their old clothes and just two pairs to wear there. They give
away all their clothes in the suitcase to their family before they leave too. A lot of culture
has been brought here from the Philippines. Young ones respect their elders all the time.
We always call someone older than us “Ate or Kuya” and “Tita or Tito”. Even if we have
just met that person for the first time and have no blood relations, we still call them one
of the titles of respect. We never answer back to an adult, unlike many American children
and we always try our hardest to honor our elders. Filipino-Americans show their
relationship with the Philippines through culture and love for home and respecting their
elder.

Another way that Filipino-Americans connect to their homeland is through watching
the Filipino Channel. Providers such as Verizon and DirecTV have the channels, TFC
ABS-CBN and GMA. There, Filipino-Americans always watch shows like the well
known Wowowee. They catch up on all the gossip and watch dramas like Tayong
Dalawa, May Bukas Pa, and Kambal Sa Uma. Some shows help teach the young ones
Tagalog, like Filipino Ka? Sabihin Mo! This teaches them their native tongue. The
dramas give the older Filipino-Americans a link to their past from similarities to their
childhood. They cry when the characters cry, laugh when they laugh and altogether hand
over their feelings to the dramas. In some dramas like MMK, they show the life of a mom
in America. It shows how hard they must work and how some bosses treat them. In
shows like Tayong Dalawa, there are tons of tragedies and happiness. It makes people
cry, laugh and want more than one episode can give. Dramas like May Bukas Pa show
the religion of the Philippines and conflicts also involving families. It shows how close
the Filipinos are to God and teaches Filipino-Americans to be closer to God and their
own families. Wowowee provides fun filled entertainment in our native language to
watch and laugh at. It also includes Filipino-Americans on the show playing the games
with Pokwang, Mariel, and Chokoleit. In addition, when Cory Aquino died, we knew the
exact time and could watch the funeral to pay our respects because of how much she
helped us. We could tell how much our homeland felt for Cory Aquino and their
immense love for their ex-president. She helped change the Philippines and worked so
hard after the death of her husband. Her name, Corazon, means heart in Spanish and
Tagalog. It is the perfect name for a woman as astonishing as Cory. She worked hard to
change the Philippines and People Power, the peaceful revolution full of prayer in the
Philippines, in 1986. Cory was great and we could respect her even if we were here in
America. These TV channels help Filipino-Americans feel like they are back home while
watching television, really connect them to current events, and help them find out so
much about people like Cory Aquino.

One more way Filipino-Americans show how close they are to the Philippines is by
joining cultural dance groups and associations such as FAAP. They have groups all over
the 50 states. In FAAP, we do dances like Sinkil, Tinikling (Slow and Fast versions),
Banga, Pandango Sa Ilow, Maglalatik, La Jota, Bulaklakan, Subli, and Janggay. It really
helps us to understand our culture and feel closer to the Philippines, and our family back
home. We can feel like we are actually back at the Philippines by the way we perform the
same dances that our ancestors did and that our own family still does now. We go back to
the past with dances like Janggay, La Jota, and Maglalatik. We do the national dance,
Tinikling, with pride and understanding of our old country. We sing Bayang Magiliw
with honor and love of that beautiful country. We dance all the dances with the
understanding, feeling the whispers of the past as we do them. We know the emotions
that our ancestors felt as they did the same dances so long ago. We know the meanings in
the songs sung. We understand the Tagalog because in the association we learn it. It helps
to enrich our understanding of our culture and link us with our homeland. We can all feel
close relationships with the Philippines even if we are born in America. Our affiliation
with associations like FAAP really brings us close to the Philippines. Filipino-Americans
have very strong bonds with the Philippines. We bring ourselves close through various
ways, our love, entertainment, our culture, and our history. We try our hardest to stay
close to the country we love. That is what being a Filipino-American is all about; the
honor, the love, and our home.