WE are independent only in the sense that we have self-rule and are not direct subjects of a foreign power like we were during Spanish and American colonial times. Events of our national life would tell us we are not independent beyond that fundamental political sense of the word.
Because we drove Spain out we cut all but cultural ties with her. But it is a different story with the U.S. that supposedly handed independence to us in a silver platter. Among politically astute Filipinos (an unfortunate minority) the U.S., now a superpower, is known to exert influence on the internal affairs of other nations in the interest of their national security.
Thus, it has hooked past Philippine administrations into varying degrees of submission with foreign aid, especially the military kind because we are neither capable of defending ourselves against foreign aggression nor proud enough to declare ourselves the neutral nation that we should be, considering our smallness.
Enter President Duterte who rejects unilateral submission and befriends China. Yet, he cannot escape the fact that only the U.S. has the military strength to enforce, for instance, the International Arbitral Court’s favorable ruling on our claims to islands in the West Philippine Sea.
What happens then is that in addition to being dependent on U.S. military power we are now also dependent on China’s good will which realistically, given their military superiority over us, cannot be expected to include ceding islands that the International Court has judged to be part of Philippine territory. Sooner or later, therefore, we will be running back to America for help should we decide to enforce our rightful claims in the West Philippine Sea.
My point? We are not truly independent as the preceding scenario would show. Moreover, we are not independent because we are internally weak. We are run by self-serving politicos who get into office for money, power, and privilege not for service. A more egregious way of saying this is we are weak because we are dependent on selfish traditional politicians who care only for the advancement of their political and economic ambitions even as they run the country to the ground.
Neither June 12, 1898 nor July 4, 1946 marks our independence day because that really is still to come. It will come on the day we become politically educated, disciplined and united in electing officials who are mature, responsible and patriotic enough to condemn, say, corruption in government in order to help erase it and not, as they do now, to discredit incumbents for an easy take over.
Before then, independence will mean nothing more than a bad joke we ourselves allow rich and powerful politicians to play on us.