Dr. F. Landa Jocano: A Filipino Warrior

If it were up to F. Landa Jocano, elementary school history classes would be very different.

"We need to revise history. Our history is the only one in the world where we concentrate on our faults or defeats rather than whatever success we have, or if we ever succeed, we never talk about the valor of the warriors."

As I was listening to him, he made a lot of sense. "What happened," he said, "After the Battle of Mactan..." A statue was built for Magellan, and as for Lapu-lapu, well, a fish was named after him. "This," he remarks, "Is how we 'honor' people who were prepared to die for the people."

After the Revolution against the Americans, it was the same. Our ancestors fought for every inch of our land, but afterwards, the Americans were glorified as heroes and Filipinos just labeled as 'insurrectos'. Notice how every street and bridge seems to have been named after the Americans, especially during that time.

This, and many other factors, Jocano says, made us grow up hating our own culture. Another major factor was the system of education introduced by our colonizers. The Spaniards, of course, provided no education but for the elite, and even when the Americans introduced an organized system for even the barrios, the things that were taught were not healthy for our national pride.

"We were taught that "A" is for "apple" and I thought I was a good pupil because during my formative years I kept running to the board and writing "A" is for "apple" but I had never seen one!"

"Maybe it was not intended," he adds, "But they never thought of teaching us our traditions. In our geography lessons, they reminded us of the smallest things in the world: the smallest fish in the world? Pandaca Pygmaea; the smallest monkeys? Tarsiers; the smallest deer? Mousedeer. Sometimes the lessons would end: Who are the smallest people in the world? Of course, it is us. We are negritos."

Modern psychologists, he suggests, might call it conditioning. There were subtle hints. "Ano ba'ng national flower natin? (What is out national flower?)"

"Sampaguita," I answer.

"Maliit (small)," he points out.

"Ano'ng national bird?"

"Maya," I breathe a sigh, thankful I remembered my grade school lessons.

"Everything is maliit (small) so Filipinos grew up with that concept. Even our roads our bridges are all narrow because our mindset was already formed. And there is an admiration of the bigness of the other. We became brown Americans. We are disgusted with our own culture."