The Philippines Needs a Cultural Revolution

The Philippines needs a Cultural Revolution. Culture defines our world outlook. It is the collective imagination of a people and the driving force behind every society’s political, economic, socio-civic, and politico-military undertaking. Therefore, it is safe to assume that culture is the point of view of a people on how they will define their way of life and how they will address social problems that beset them.

For a long time now, Philippine society has been mired in cultural bankruptcy. We were subjected to centuries of colonial oppression and brain-washing that nipped what should emerge as a mass-oriented culture having a nationalist and scientific character. Four hundred years of direct colonial rule and almost a century of neo-colonial regimes created a pro-imperialist, feudal-patriarchal, and unscientific Philippine society which is constantly mired in backwardness.

For almost four hundred years, the Philippines’ collective imagination has been distorted to suit the needs of colonial rulers. We were taught to obey without thinking. We were made to believe that having a fair or white skin is beautiful. It is also a general belief that anyone who fluently speaks the colonizers’ language is intelligent. We were bombarded with ideas that explicitly state that imported products are much better than its local counterparts. There are so much more that we can add to the list of cultural distortions and it is no wonder that we, Filipinos, have what could be termed as subliminal self-hatred.

The cultural philistinization of Philippine society was systematically done by the colonizers and their local ruling elites to perpetuate their political and economic dominance. Consider the economic implication of the belief that “imported products are superior to local ones;” it has killed the Marikina shoe industry because Filipinos tend to prefer Nikes, Reebok, and Doc Marten shoes. Another example of cultural bankruptcy in the Philippines is the neurotic fetishism on the English language. Every government official mouths the familiar mantra of “speak English to be able to compete globally”, “English proficiency among our workers can propel the economy forward”. These led to the bastardization of the Filipino languange.

It is in this light that I assert and promote a thorough-going, all-rounded, and comprehensive cultural revolution.