Hyperlexia

I was on my way to the mall to meet a friend when I passed by the Aguinaldo house here in Cavite, Southern Tagalog Region in southern Luzon. It reminded me not only that school’s up [and my mom's coming back from abroad, so I'm restricted once more], but also that the celebration of the 104th year of Philippine Independence is upcoming. The girl seating beside me glanced back to her companion and pointed out the 100 flags across the Shrine and exclaimed, “Dami nung bandera no? Pero malaya na nga kaya tayo? (Look at the many flags. But are we really free?)” I just chuckled and put my attention back on the road.

Her last crack made me think for a while, though. Almost every year my teachers always bring up that topic. Are we really free and independent? Sounds like a cliché but this question’s always left unanswered.

Whenever my friends bond together we usually talk about serious matters; from politics and business, to delinquent students, an almost unconcerned school administration, and flunking subjects, to how we are going to survive after high school. Sovereignity is always on the list of topics that needed some brainstorming.

One of my friends said that if we were really free, we should be capable to stand and govern our country on our own, and we don’t even have to ask for some military and financial assistance from other countries like the United States. Another said that it is only a common thing to negotiate and be in good terms with other neighboring states. Another friend also added that it doesn’t mean that if you’re somewhat ‘attached’ to a certain nation, you’re not free. Now that thought leads me to more questions what is freedom anyway? How can a high school student like me attest that my country was liberated one hundred four years ago? Is freedom having political independence? Is it seeing people producing and selling pirated lms on the sidewalks? Is independence having corrupt leaders? Are the squatters liberated from poverty and underemployment? Do you call pornography freedom of expression and art? How profane.

Then what is independence? Is it living on one of the most popular places here in our country? Is it playing golf three times a week? Is liberty being cleared of rules?

For me, freedom is knowing your limits and doing whatever you want within them. If you know you’re not breaking any rules, then you can do whatever you want. We’re all restricted to do something, just because there’s always a tendency for us to overdo some things. And I don’t think we do have our own freedom right now. After a century of struggle and dependence, we are still suffering from circumstances that we have supposedly been freed of years ago. The country’s still experiencing a lot of problems, and it’s sad to realize that it’s not yet over, after all. Isn’t it tiring that after a long day in the office, you come home and watch TV — purportedly to relax and unwind — only to see people killing each other, endless waste problems and hidden political agenda? Worse, it has always been the same problems. If there are any changes that are happening, it is not quite enough.

Everyone hopes of a better country. I believe that before you declare yourself as “free,” you should know what the I and F words mean, how we can attain such things, and what basically makes up a democratic country.

I just hope that someday we can really understand what’s the real meaning of freedom, that it’s just not a crappy idea that everyone wants to attain, but rather, something worth fighting and celebrating for, even a hundred years later.

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Originally published at B-NEXT, under the News & Issues section.