We need to know this

Every time I am given a chance to visit another country, I always have this sad feeling and thought why can't my beloved country, the Philippines, be similar to them. And just about we lose our love and loyalty to our birth nation, we suddenly hear the story of Kyle Douglas Jennerman.

Kyle or "Kulas" as he is known through his popular YouTube vlogs "BecomingFilpino" is a Canadian citizen who sought to acquire Filipino citizenship through legislation passed by the Senate of the Philippines. Through House Bill No. 7185 or the bill granting him Filipino citizenship, Kyle Jennerman is now officially a Filipino. Talk about the most unexpected irony as most of us Filipinos dream of immigrating to other countries such as the US, UK, and Canada at that where Kyle originally hails from.

The bizarreness of this story somehow amuses my deep thoughts and pushes my inner self to feel guilty for not loving to be a Filipino just like most of my countrymen. Why would a Canadian person want to become a Filipino when nearly all of us want to be somewhere else and become a citizen in a foreign land? I realize that we needed this peculiar incident to happen to make us realize that we should be proud to be a Filipino, and that we have to love the Philippines.

In an interview recently, Kyle shared some of the reasons or occasions that led to wanting to become a Filipino:

1. During an encounter with a family after Typhoon Yolanda hit in 2013: "They were hanging out, and I made chika with them. We were having laughs. It was just a lot of happiness and beauty, but then I asked them right before we left what they were doing, and they said we are digging for our dead lola under this boat."

2. On a jeepney seeing Pinoy commuters: "Look at how you ride the jeepney. What do you do? You pass the money to each other. You trust each other to pass up to the driver—simple things like that simply build and build and build in me."

I guess apart from these encounters, "Kulas" deeply fell in love with the Philippines as he has scoured more than 80 provinces and featuring the marvelous natural wonders and places of our country. Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri expressed his admiration saying that “he is a better promoter of the Philippines than many of the people I know who do that for a living. Kulas was born and raised in Vancouver Island, Canada, but in almost 10 years that he has spent in the Philippines, he has truly become Filipino."

I would like to quote in verbatim the manifestation of vote from Senator Renato dela Rosa:" Naming his page 'Becoming Filipino,' Kulas has been clear about his intention from the very beginning. Talagang gustung-gusto niyang maging Pilipino. And he is not some fair-weather friend, who loves us only for our scenic spots and hospitality but would turn a blind eye to our identity, our culture, and our language. He freely chose to enter into our world. Perhaps, this is a pivotal moment in globalization - wherein we learn to love our identity even more as Filipinos, but we learn it also from the eyes of someone we would at first consider a 'foreigner.' Today, as we approve this measure on Third Reading, we are doing more than just approving the grant of Filipino citizenship to someone who was formerly foreign. We are welcoming into our home someone who, from the very start, did not just choose to enter the Philippines. He is someone who, from the very start, had already decided to stay."

Indeed, a slap on our faces. Let us wash away our guilt with the inspiration that this story really tells and begin to love being Filipinos again even when it is hard to revere our identity and we find it easy to despise everything that speaks of our nationality and exceptionality as the most resilient and fun-loving people of the world.

Thank you Kulas, I am proud to be a Filipino once again.

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