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by Yoly Tumangan Tubalinal.
April 17, 2011
Absence, so the saying goes, “makes a heart grow fonder.” And it’s never been truer than today in the case of Filipinos who have spent most of their productive lives on distant shores. Our longing to return to our country of origin becomes even stronger as we grow older and the yearning for peace and quiet and the old familiar places take over what was once our intense desire for success and wealth.
Those who are financially prepared for their retirement are more likely to go through with their dream of returning home and retiring there. They got the only ace they’ll ever need to get the best things that money can buy. A new and beautifully furnished home in a securely gated community in the choicest place.. A chauffeur, stay-in housekeeper and a cook, who will be at your beck and call. A life of comfort and privilege all over again!
This is not to say, though, that all those who did push through with their plans of returning home for good stayed like they had planned on doing. Some found the land they used to love and dream about going back to was really not as familiar and adorable as it used to be. So, after a year or even less, they come back to their second home, more appreciative and less restless, perhaps, even happier.
Thanks to Dr. Tom of Richmond, Va for the opinions shared by his friends in the following commentaries.
“Despite the negatives, my love for our country is ad infinitum…” By Dr. Cesar C. Candari, Henderson, NV In these times of economic uncertainty, inflation, recession and energy crisis, planning for tomorrow is extremely tricky. The shrinking dollar is the number one problem facing anyone trying to guarantee himself a comfortable retirement in this country. There must be an alternative to a “better life”, and it should not be difficult for most Filipino Americans to achieve it upon retirement. That alternative is the Philippines. The biggest allure that living in the Philippines can offer is money value. For one thing, the cost-of-living in the Philippines is very advantageous for someone earning a pension in U.S. dollars.
I have been informed that Tagaytay City is an ideal retirement location. It has a marvelous mild tropical climate. An attractive secured gated community with linkages to adjoining towns and provinces are the blueprints at your disposal, you will have a butler, house help, a gardener, and driver at a cost you can easily afford. There will be extra cash to invest in any of your favorite charitable projects or other business opportunities that may employ your town mates, friends and relatives
With my recommendation for a place to enjoy your retirement, consider this one, however. The overwhelming problems in our country the Philippines is a very significant caveat …forcing doctors to think twice of considering retiring in an attractive place like the Philippines. It’s the peace and order, security, the intolerable corruption of government officials, the continued poverty of 70% of the population for so many years now…But my love for our country is ad infinitum.
Retiring in the Philippines
Atty. Christopher Hugo, N.Y.
Once a year, the Filipino community in the United States celebrates our Independence Day through a variety of festivities culminating in a parade and a version of the Philippine fiesta. I never participate in any of these celebrations except in one instance when my family visited the Philippine Fiesta in New Jersey about 3 years ago out of sheer curiosity.
Why? Because, I am not an “Independence Day Pinoy.” I celebrate the Filipino every day:
1. Though difficult (according to my Filipino neighbors), I teach my kids about Philippine culture and language and to be proud Filipinos.
Just recently, while we were vacationing in Ohio, my sister-in-law (who was then with my kids in a mall) bumped into a group of Filipinos who were surprised to hear my kids speaking in Filipino. When my sister-in-law told me about this incident, I replied: “Why not? My kids are Filipinos although they were born in the U.S.”
Europeans, Hispanics, and other Asians living in the U.S. continue to be proud of their heritage despite being away from their respective motherlands. Why should we be different? Could this be one of the reasons why we continue to lag behind our Asian brothers and sisters such as Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc.?
2. I condemn Filipinos abroad who openly attack the Philippines/Philippine government for its apparent shortcomings. For a Filipino to do the same, he must have done something (i.e., paid taxes, followed traffic rules, honestly worked as a public servant, etc.) to improve the Philippines while he was still living there.
If a Filipino abroad did not do anything (or is not doing something) to improve the lot of the Filipino, he has forfeited his right to openly criticize the Filipino or the Philippines.
A few years ago, I met an “Iskolar ng Bayan,” living in the Midwest, who had nothing positive to say about the Filipino or the Philippines. I wanted to confront him then but out of respect for the event’s sponsor, I did not. This ingrate, who obtained his world class medical education from a premier Philippine public university courtesy of the Filipino taxpayer, had the temerity to malign the Philippines despite failing to give back to his Motherland (Almost immediately after obtaining his MD and passing the licensure examinations, he left for the United States and has since then sporadically vacationed in the Philippines for brief periods). Certainly, this person has lost his right to criticize the Filipino or the Philippines.
3. When vacationing in the Philippines, I strive to follow the traffic rules. I refuse to believe that such rules are mere suggestions as a friend of mine once told me. In fact, I refuse to believe that it (following such rules) can’t be done in the Philippines. If we follow the rules in our adopted countries, it behooves us to do the same while in our Motherland.
Two years ago, I needed a police clearance for a consultancy job in the Philippines. I waited in line for almost 5 hours to obtain the clearance albeit I could have gotten the same by merely calling a friend. We cannot criticize the system and at the same time use it to our advantage whenever convenient.
Yesterday, I had a visitor (a learned man, a native Filipino and now a US citizen) who in the same breath lambasted what he calls the Philippine “bureaucracy” and proudly exhibited his joy for taking advantage of the system’s alleged inequities (Apparently, he only paid a fraction of the property tax for his estate in Metro Manila because he knows someone at the City Assessor’s office). Such hypocrisy!
I am not saying that Filipinos abroad cannot criticize the Filipino or the Philippines. But before we do so, let us ask ourselves what have we done for our Motherland? There are more than enough Filipino armchair critics. Let us not increase their numbers. What we need are Filipinos who can propose and implement solutions for the ills of the Philippines.
I am not a perfect Filipino. Nobody is. However, I endeavor to celebrate the Filipino every day, not only during the Independence Day or when Manny Pacquiao is winning. I know in my heart that one can never go wrong for passionately loving our Motherland.
“Accept the Philippines for what it is until you can do something about it…” Dr. Bert S. Barretto, The Villages, Fla
It makes no sense to me anymore to complain and dissect the problems in our native land. The corruption involves everyone and is embedded in our culture. To change these conditions, it will involve having a benevolent dictator take over or all of us have to look at ourselves in the mirror for the change we want to see.
In spite of everything, we all have a profound love for our homeland and a deep yearning to go back time and again. So, let us accept it as it is until such time that we have the will to change or find such a dictator and in the meantime enjoy all the good traits that we have, the good food and the beauty of our islands before it sinks because of over-population.
I find it interesting that many learned Pinoys don’t believe that our country is over-populated just as many do not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution.