Former Filipinos

Rodel Rodis writes an opinion column for the Philippine News. His latest essay is amusing.

America can learn a great deal from how Filipinos have dealt with the integration of various ethnic and cultural groups into the Filipino political mainstream.

Hmm, yes indeed. America really needs to know how Filipinos have dealt with the Itas and the indigenous people. How about the political power which have been given to the Muslims in Mindanao? Absolutely! We need more of that education to come to America. Of course, he does cite members of minority groups in the Philippines who eventually became presidents or politicos. I can only assume that this somehow balances out the current policy of the Philippines with respect to indigenous people and Moslems and non-Tagalog speakers.

However, Rodis does cite what makes one an American or not an American. Apparently, it's all about knowing how many homeruns Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron hit. In which case, I do not qualify as an American.

But give Rodis a fair shake. It's difficult to define culture in America and he's trying to encompass such a wide nebulous concept into a 1000 word opinion on "former Filipinos."

In case you are wondering, I'm Filipino, American, Filipino-American and Pin@y. Pin@y is my version of pinoy/pinay.