What if the Philippines was never colonized, would we end up a better country?
Until Juan steps up and accepts our ugly history, our heritage may slip away until none of it is left for us to embrace. — A. Giongo, W. Perez
Colonization is associated to negative connotations of centuries of bloody tragedies and misrule. However, under historian’s perspective, it is viewed as the age of exploration and discovery across uncharted islands in hopes to gain power and spread culture. Although our nation did experience bloody horrors of cruelty and abuse, it is undeniable that through their expeditions and crusade that we were able to be industrialized.
However, the next question poses as whether or not the unimaginable horrors of the past is worth of today’s industrial advancement; that whether or not the Philippines would become a better country if it was not colonized?
What-if questions are regret-filled thoughts aimed to hurt the present by imagining an alternate scenario that will never happen and weigh if things were better as is or dream of a different outcome. Clinging to the thought that our country may prosper and advance itself without the propagated Western culture or with the idea that we would still be living as savages, uneducated barbarians is both wrong.
What we need is to fully realize and accept the uncharacteristic beauty of our heritage, and embrace our ugly past that makes up of who we are today. There’s a need to look back, but there’s a better reason to move forward.
Indeed, the colonizers are wrong for their exploitation and cruelty, may it be Spaniards, Americans or the Japanese. But the fault will be on us if we still continue to wrestle within ourselves let alone become prisoners of the past and be hindered by mere what-ifs. We need to understand that time don’t run counterclockwise, and every Juan needs to accept things and become better citizens today for the sake of the future generations and to make the efforts of our valiant heroes be worth it.
We can make the Philippines a better country in our today’s generation, not through idly dreaming on the what-ifs that would never occur. We can still make the Philippines the best of itself and the first step is for every Juan to fully embrace our history and let fuel our hearts towards betterment.
