"Filipino Nation in Daly City” Journal 4/18 - Leigh Bagood

Vergara illustrates the relations between Filipinos who immigrated to America and Filipinos in the Philippines, as there is a sort of rift caused by issues of class and nation between the two being that Filipino-Americans can be viewed as traitors to their nation for seeking monetary benefits in another country. I can relate to the idea that Filipinos in the Philippines have a tendency to make you feel less Filipino if you were not raised in the Philippines and do not speak the language. Both in America and in the Philippines, relatives will urge you to learn the language, and interact with you in a way that implies you’re not a true Filipino. In my case, they’d make a point about how “Americanized” I am and I never thought about what connotation that held because regardless, I always felt like my family never strayed away from our heritage.
One particular thing Vergara said stood out to me and that is, “perhaps the homeland has everything to do with Filipinos’ everyday life in America.” He mentions that the post-1965 Filipino immigrants, a categorization that my own parents fall into, do not fit the portrait of those who “recasts his image after that of his adopted land.” If anything, maintaining ties to the homeland is everything about Filipino-American life. If there is a culture we have created for ourselves here, it possesses the same values of pride for our homeland and our heritage. I’ve heard that Filipinos who move to America are sometimes viewed as purely materialistic people with no sense of nationalism. But though my parents made the choice to move to America, they never failed to instill in me Filipino values and awareness about my family’s origin, as the majority of my relatives remain in the Philippines. They came not for wealth, for they were perfectly aware of the struggles they could face, but for the mere possibilities of a better life for their children.

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