Many of us, particularly workers, eagerly look forward to holidays because these are rare pauses from our daily routines. We can sleep in, unwind, and step away from the usual demands of work and responsibility, and yes, a holiday often feels like a brief taste of freedom, a day when we are released from the rhythm that governs our everyday lives.
On June 12, our nation celebrates Independence Day, marking 128 years since the Philippines declared its freedom from Spanish rule in 1898. Known as Araw ng Kalayaan or Araw ng Kasarinlan, this day commemorates the historic moment when Emilio Aguinaldo proclaimed independence through the Acta de la Proclamacion de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino, and when the Philippine flag was first unfurled, symbolizing the birth of our nation.
This occasion is more than just a day off from work, but it also serves an important reminder of a defining chapter in our history. It honors the courage, unity, and patriotism of Filipinos who fought valiantly for our land and our identity. It marks the moment we stood as a sovereign people, free from colonial rule and determined to shape our own destiny.
Independence, according to Merriam Webster is “the time when a country or region gains political freedom from outside control.” Looking at this definition, we can say that we are a free country, in the sense that we have our democracy and we have our own government that steers the entire nation toward its supposed progress and development. We are indeed a free and independent nation.
But there is another meaning to the word independence, and that includes the concepts of self–sufficiency, self-reliance, self-subsistence, or self-support. This definition encompasses the ability of each individual to be independent because he or she can provide all his or her physical, emotional, psychological, and other needs to live meaningfully. And this my friends, is the saddest reality that has overwhelmed most, if not all of us, as we move forward in this age of development and globalization.
We are not free—the privileged few get more privileged, and the poor only become poorer. Because of this, we are not free as we cannot fully sustain all of our necessities and consequently, we are inevitably faced with constraints that will enable us to achieve our fullest potential.
We are not free—because this nation is robbed of its sense of morality and dignity because we keep on making rash and foolish choices amidst the destitution that shoves us all to forego our rational thinking to be able to feed not our minds, but our mouths.
We are not free—our nation is beleaguered with corruption, immorality, poverty, delinquency, futility, despondency, and treachery. What is worse is that we do not even know that there are hundreds or thousands of alien nationalities taking refuge in our own land and the people we put in power are the ones perpetrating this illegal practice.
What we truly long for, then, is a deeper and more meaningful kind of freedom—freedom from these persistent struggles that weigh down our nation and its people. This is the freedom that “Bagong Pilipinas” aspires to achieve: a future where every Filipino can live with dignity, security, and opportunity. I hold on to the hope that within my lifetime, we will finally experience this genuine and lasting kind of freedom. Unfortunately, given the current state of our nation, this dream seems far-fetched and impossible to achieve.
