I was never tagged to do this survey (and I was waiting for a tag, hmph!), but since the holiday’s fitting, I’ll have it up now, regardless of the nontag. Today is the 109th year of Philippine Independence, and yes, that is disregarding the fact that the Americans and the Japanese took over our country afterwards. This is a day that we all celebrate, for we are finally free of the 300+ years of Spanish rule.

And because of this holiday, I’ll be stealing the survey that some people has done for the past weeks, 3 reasons why I’m proud to be Pinoy. I don’t know if I can stick to three reasons only, because being a Filipino is something I am really proud of. :)

1. Strong family values. I love how Filipinos have strong family values, about how one entire clan can live inside a single compound. It’s not only in the own family, but also in the way other people are treated — everyone of my parent’s friends are my Tito/Tita (Uncle/Aunt), and deep friendships are often compared to brotherhood/sisterhood. Filipino family values run deep, which is a really amazing trait that we have.
2. Our ability to find laughter in any situation, even at ourselves. It’s not about making fun of people or the situation, but finding the brighter side of each circumstance. I love how even in the most dire situation, Filipinos can still crack a joke to lighten everyone’s moods. :)
3. The Food. I know I’m an Italian food lover, but seriously, nothing beats Filipino food! Filipino meals are a different combination — the appetizer (soup) and main course are put together in one viand, and one can have as many servings as is permitted to him! The colors, the tastes — one cannot visit a Pinoy home without being full. And then dessert comes. :P Yum!
4. Our color. I used to dislike my brown skin color, but I realized that this color is something that I should be proud of. For one thing, I am not that susceptible to skin cancer, plus when I go swimming or get exposed to the sun, my color goes darker, but then gradually lightens up. No redness, no peeling skin.
5. The flexibility of the language. My friends and I were talking about this before, about how alive Filipino language is. It’s already amazing how many dialects there are in the country, and the other thing is that how the language can adapt to other languages. Like how most of our words are influenced by Spanish words — we got their words and made them our own. Or how we can mix Tagalog and English now without sounding really bad (I’m not talking about those who make tusok-tusok the fishball, that’s different :P). Another thing is how our language is not sexist, by having a gender-neutral pronoun to talk about something (i.e. kapatid = brother/sister, asawa = husband/wife).
6. Flexibility of the people. Put a Filipino in any country and pretty soon, he’ll fit right in. I find it funny how some people I thought were locals or Fil-Ams in Saipan and Guam turn out to be Filipinos who can still speak the language. :) Filipinos are hardworking people who can do everything for the family, which is probably why a lot of people sacrifice for their families in other countries just to help. Mabuhay kayo!
7. Beautiful, beautiful country. Despite all the traffic, pollution and whatnot, the Philippines is still a beautiful and colorful country.
8. Bayanihan. It is only in the Philippines that we have this, bayanihan. The picture of people carrying a house to move it to another place is priceless — only Filipinos do this. :)
9. Gawad Kalinga. And since we’re talking about Bayanihan, I could not fail to mention Gawad Kalinga. GK is started by a Filipino to rid of poverty in the country and also in the world, as GK is already present in Papua New Guinea. Being in a GK community is a really different experience. Even if the houses aren’t as grand as the ones in San Diego Real Estate, GK houses are still beautiful (and no doubt, colorful!) in their own way. :) GK is also not about building houses but also building homes. GK works, and I’m not saying that because I’m a volunteer, but because it is true. :) Don’t believe me? I’ll bring you to a GK site one time. ((Which reminds me, I told Pierre I’d plan a Blogger GK visit. Will get to that soon :P))

Well, I went three times the suggestion, but that’s because there is just so many things to be proud of in being a Pinoy. :) That’s why no matter how old and overplayed that Pinoy Big Brother song is, I still feel a kick of Filipino pride every time I hear it. :)

MABUHAY ANG PINOY! Happy Independence Day! :)